BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C.

Application of VOLGA-DNEPR AIRLINES LLC for an e mergency exemption pur s uant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109(g) Robert Gray Army Airfield , Fort Hood , TX

- McChord Field Airport, Tacoma , W A ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )



# ____ __ ______ ____ __ ___________ ) Docket OST-2012-

APPLICATION OF VOLGA-DNEPR AIRLINES LLC FOR AN EMERGENCY EXEMPTION Communication with r es pect to thi s document s hould be addre ss ed to: Alexey I. Isaikin Chairman Volga-Dnepr Airline s LLC 14 Karby s heva Street Ulyanovsk 432072 Russia

DATED: December 12, 2012 Artem Tarasenko Operations Manager Volga Dnepr-Unique Air Cargo , Inc. 9400 Grogan 's Mill Road , Town Center Plaza , Suite 220 , The Woodland s , TX 77381 , USA (83 2 ) 585-8611

NOTIC E : THIS APPLICATION IS FILED PURSUANT TO TH E EMERG E NCY EXEMPTIO N PROCEDURES OF 14 C
. F.R. § 3 02.410 , WHICH AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT TO ACT ON EMERGENCY EX E MPTIONS IMMEDIATELY. ANY PERSON INTERESTED IN FILING AN ANSWER IS REQUESTED TO DO SO IN THE ABOVE DOCKET IMMEDIATELY. COPIES OF THE SUBMISSION SHOULD BE SERVED ON THE PERSONS LISTED ABOVE AND ON THE A IT ACH E D SERVICE LIST.BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C.

Application of VOLGA-DNEPR AIRLINES LLC for an emergency exemption pursuant to 49 

## u.s.c. § 40109(g) Robert Gray Army Airfield, Fort Hood, TX

- McChord Field Airport , Tacoma , W A ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )



# __________ ____________ __ ____ ) Docket OST

- 2012-

APPLICATION OF VOLGA-DNEPR AIRLINES LLC FOR AN EMERGENCY EXEMPTION

Volga

- Dnepr Airlines LLC ("Volga-Dnepr Airlines " or "Volga

- Dnepr") respectfu ll y reque s ts an eme r gency exemption from the provisions of 49 U.S.C. §§ 40109(g) and 41703(c), and otherwise applicable provisions of the Department of Transportation ("DOT") regulations,
so as to permit Volga-Dnepr to operate one (1) one-way cargo charter flight , utilizing VolgaDnepr 's AN- 124-100 aircraft to transport cargo from Robert Gray Army Airfield, Fort Hood, Texas to McChord Field Airport , Tacoma, Washington on around December 16 , 2012

- December 17,2012 , on behalfofU.S. TRANSCOM. The outsized cargo to b e transported by Volga-Dnepr consists of five Bell OH-58D helicopt e r s and associated equipment. Each helicopter 's dimensions are L-408" x W

- 74" x H115" weighing approximately 3,110 pounds. As described, the payload is outsized and cannot be accommodated by domestic commercial carrier aircraft. In support of its application , Volga-Dnepr states a s follows :1. Volga-Dnepr is a foreign air carrier holding appropriate DOT authority to conduct all

cargo charter foreign air transportation between a point or point s in Russia and a point or points in the United States , and all-cargo charter transportation between the United Sates and third countries pursuant to 14 C.F.R. Part 212
. 2. Volga-Dnepr will operate flight on behalf of U.S. TRANSCOM as part of an effort to provide needed lift to comple t e the required equipment rotation as set forth above. The cargo
was originally planned to be tran s ported by U.S. TRANSCOM on organic lift , however , due to the need to divert available organic lift to other areas, U.S. TRANSCOM is requiring this cargo to be transported by commercial aircraft. U.S. Carriers were solicited for movement of this cargo , however did not have the required availability , or required aircraft to meet the requested movement timeline outlined by U.S. TRANSCOM for transport of the cargo. The military stands to face substantial delays in highly time sensitive operation s if the mission is not completed within the se t schedule , while only the use of Volga-Dnepr's aircraft can make it possible to perform the serv ice in que st ion on time. 3. Due to the nature of the cargo, as well as the urgency of the shipment, the military cannot use alternative surface tran s portation to ship the cargo. 4. Given the tight schedule associated with the mission , Volga-Dnepr must perform the operation not later than stated above. Volga-Dnepr i s polling all U.S. certificated air carriers on the attached service list and will inform the Department of Transportation on the results of the poll. 5
. Under 49 U.S.C. § 40109(g) , the Department may a uthori ze a foreign air carrier to transport commercial traffic between U.S. points under limited circumstances. Specifically , th e Department must find that th e authority i s required in the public interest ; that because of an emergency created by unusual circumstances not arising in the normal course of business the traffic cannot be accommodated by U.S. ca rri e r s holding cert ifi ca tes under 49 U.S
. C. 

### § 41102; that all possib l e efforts have been made to accommodate th e traffic on U.S. certificated airearners; and that the exemption is necessary to avoid unreasonable hardship for the traffic. This application is consistent with the public interest and meets all of the relevant criteria under 49 U.S.C. § 40109(g) for the grant of an exemption. 6. Grant of this application is in the public interest. As is evidenced by the attached correspondence, timely shipment of the cargo is imperative to avoid substantial delay in U.S. TRANSCOM's operations. 7. In this instance, an emergency created by unusual circumstances not arising in the normal course of business exists as a result of the diversion of U.S. TRANSCOM's organic fleet to other emergency tasks related to ongoing operations worldwide, the exigent circumstances surrounding the lack of availability of U.S. civil aircraft and the urgency of the shipment. As a result , the best way to resolve this emergency is for the AN-124-100 to transport the cargo in question. 8. As previously stated no U.S. carner is available or has the aircraft to transport this cargo within the dates requested by U.S. TRANSCOM. Indeed , there is no viable transportation option by any commercially available means other than Volga-Dnepr's aircraft to meet desired timeline
. 9. Grant of this exemption application is necessary to avoid unreasonable hardship for the traffic at issue. 

### In fact , the shipper stands to suffer considerable disruption to it s operations in the interest of national security and safety if the shipments are delayed. 10. Volga-Dnepr's fitness and ability to carry out the proposed transportation has been amply demonstrated through its conduct of numerous cargo charter operations world-wide, including traffic in and out of the United States , over the past several years - on behalf of the U.S. TRANSCOM. 11. Grant of this application is consistent with Department precedent. Foreign air earners have been granted emergency exemption authority to carry cargo between U.S. points when an emergency existed as a result of unusual circumstances not arising in the normal course ofbusiness. See , e.g. , Orders 96-6-31,96-4-29,95-11-35 , 95-2-35,94-11-6 and 94-4-14 , as well as Notices of Action Taken in docket s OST-04-17906 , OST-07-26806, OST-07-27125, OST-07- 28857, OST-08-0003 , and OST-09-0041. 12. In light of the exigent circumstances , Volga-Dnepr requests expeditious processing and the immediate grant of this emergency exemption application. The Department's Procedural Regulation s provide that the Department can act on an emergency exemption application immediately. Designated agent for Volga-Dnepr will promptly advise the Department of the responses of the interested U.S. carriers to the poll conducted regarding thi s application
.WHEREFORE , Volga-Dnepr respectfully requests that the Department is s ue an emergency exemption permitting it to operate one ( 1) one-way cargo charter flights, utili z ing Volga-Dnepr's AN-124-100 aircraft ; to transport cargo from Robert Gray Army Airfield , Fort Hood , Texas to McChord Field Airport, Tacoma , Washington on or around December 16 , 2012

- December 1 

### 7, 20 12, as described herein, and grant such further re lief as the Department deems to be con sis tent with the public interest.

Dated: December 12,2012 Respectfully submitted,

Artem Tarasen.ko De sig nated agent for Volga-Dnepr Airlines (832) 585-8611CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that I have on this day served a copy of the foregoing document upon all persons named on the attached service list via electronic mail.

Artem Tarasenko

Dated: December 12,2012

### Service List

Robert P. Silverberg Jeff Johnson Silverberg, Goldman & Bikoff, LLP Suite 120 1101 30 th 

### Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20007 For ABX AIR Telephone: 202
- 944
- 3300 Fax: 202
- 944
- 3306 rsilverberg@sgbdc.com jjohnson@sgbdc.com Marshall Sinick Squire, Sanders & Demsey 1201 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington, DC 20004 For ALASKA AIRLINES & FLORIDA WEST Telephone: 202
- 626
- 6600 or 202
- 626
- 6649 Fax: 202
- 626
- 6780 msinick@ssd.com
Carl B. Nelson, Jr. , Esq. Associate General Counsel 1101 17 th 

### Street, N.W. Sui te 600Washington, DC 20036
- 4704 For: AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC. Telephone: 202
- 496
- 5647 Fax: 202
- 857
- 4246 carl.nelson@aa.com John L. Richardson John L. Richardson, P.L.L.C. 555 13 th 

### Street, N.W. Suite 420 West Washington, DC 20004 For: AMERIJET INTERNATIONAL, INC. Telephone: 202
- 371
- 2258 Fax: 202
- 828
- 0158 jrichardson@johnlrichardson.com Michelle Riordan mriordan@johnlrichardson.com Joan M. Canny Senior Vice President and General Counsel AMERIJET INTERNATIONAL, INC. 28 00 S. Andrews Ave. Ft. Lauderdale, FL. 33316 Office 954
- 320
- 5300, Fax 305
- 423
- 3246 Direct 954
- 320
- 5367 jcanny@amerijet.com

### Stephen H. Lachter

Suite 900 1150 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20036
- 4192 For: ASTAR AIR CARGO Telephone: 202
- 862
- 4321 Fax: 202
- 835
- 3219 slachter@lachter
- clements.com Joe Hrezo Manager
- Business Development ASTAR AIR CARGO
- Charter Services Phone: 859
- 980
- 1870 Fax: 859
- 980
- 1689 Cell: 859
- 803
- 3882 joe.hrezo@astaraircargo.us Russell Pommer 1747 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W. Suite 875 Washington, D. C. 20006 For: ATLAS AIR Telephone: 202
- 822
- 9121 Fax: 202
- 822
- 9152 rpommer@atlasair.com Ken Johnson Ken.Johnson@aawholdings.com

Williams C. Evans John Mietus Law Office of John Mietus, LLC 6701 Democracy Blvd., Ste 300 B ethesda, MD 20817
- 7500 For: CENTURION AIR CARGO & SKYLEASE Telephone: 301
- 571
- 9334 Fax: 240
- 396
- 5362 john@mietuslaw.com Alexander Van der Bellen 1275 K St., NW, Suite 1200 Washington, DC 20005 For: DELTA AIRLINES sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com

Ben Graves Daniel Commins Kelli Bryan (Charter Sales) Evergreen International Airlines EVERGREEN INTERNATIONAL , INC . Telephone: 503
- 472
- 9361 Tel: 503.472.0011 Fax: 503.434.4210 charters@evergreenairlines.com Sam White sam.white@evergreenaviation.com Ranjit Seth ranjit.seth@evergreenairlines.com An geline N. Garbuzinski 3620 Hacks Cross Rd Bldg. B, 3 rd 

### Floor Memphis, TN 38135 For: FEDERAL EXPRESS CORP. Telephone: 901
- 434
- 8589 Fax: 901
- 434
- 9289 anbird@fedex.com Sandra Lunsford sllunsford@fedex.com

### Dawn Pefley

“Cozen O’Connor” 1627 I Street, NW, Ste 1100 Washington, DC 20006 For: KALITTA AIR, L.L.C. Telephone: 202
- 463
- 2525 Fax: 202
- 463
- 4950 DPefley@cozen.com Mark Atwood matw ood@cozen.com Ned Wallace nwallace@wallaceair.com Lynn Stauffer lstauffer@wallaceair.com Judy McKenzie, President For: LYNDEN AIR CARGO 6441 s. Airpark Place A nchorage, AK 99502 Telephone: 907
- 249
- 4100 Fax: 907
- 245
- 0642 judy@lac.lynden.com Garry White gwhite@lac.lynden.com Jim Davis jdavis@lac.lynden.com

Elaine Nisson Mark Liland 3900 W. Int’l Airport Rd. Anchorage, Alaska 99519 For: NORTHERN AIR CARGO Telephone: 907
- 243
- 3331 ext.514 Fax: 907
- 249
- 5190 Mliland@nac.aero Elaine Nisson enisson@nac.aero Margot Wiegele mwiegele@nac.aero Kevin P. Montgomery 1747 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Suite 875 Washington, DC 20006 For: POLAR AIR Telephone: 202
- 828
- 1002 Fax: 202
- 828
- 1003 Peter Beckett Telephone 310
- 743
- 0142 Kevin.montgomery@polaraircargo.com peter.beckett@polaraircargo.com

Aaron A. Goerlich Gar ofalo, Goerlich & Hainbach, PC 1200 New Hampshire Ave., Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036 For: RYAN INTERNATIONAL Telephone: 202
- 776
- 3970 Fax: 202
- 776
- 3975 agoerlich@ggh
- airlaw.com Tom Gillies Richard Mac ri For: SOUTHERN AIR Telephone: 203
- 847
- 6000 vryan@southernair.com sales@southernair.com TGillies@southernair.com RMacri@southernair.com

### Dan Weiss

1600 Smith Street, Ste HQSGV Houston, TX 77002 For: UNITED/CONTINENTAL AIRLINES Telephone: 713
- 324
- 6697 or 713
- 324
- 2140 or (312) 997
- 7573 (Dan Weiss) Fax: 713
- 324
- 2749 dan.weiss@coair.com Anita Mosner Partner Holland & Knight For: UNITED PARCEL SERVICES 2099 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 100 Washington DC 20006 T: +1.202.419.2604 F: +1.202.955.5564 anita.mosner@hklaw.com
Howard Kass Ben Slocum For: U.S. AIRWAYS Telephone: 202
- 326
- 5153 Telephone: 480
- 693
- 5782 (Ben) howard_kass@usairways.com Benjamin.slocum@usairways.com Malcolm L. Benge Corporate Counsel 999 Seventeenth Street, NW Washington, DC 20006
- 3309 For: WORLD AIRWAYS, INC. Telephone: 202
- 298
- 8660 Fax: 202
- 342
- 0683 mlbenge@zsr law.com
Frank Avent Airline Information Research 343 Round Hill Road Sapphire, North Carolina 28774 Telephone: 703
- 489
- 9801 info@airlineinfo.com Krishna R. Urs Dep. Asst. Secy, Trnsp. Affairs Department o f State 2201 C Street, NW, Room 5830 Washington, DC 20520 Fax: 202
- 647
- 4324 urskr@state.gov Judy Kuo Department of State – EUR/RUS 2201 C. Street, N.W., Room 4417 Washington, DC 20520 Fax: 202
- 647
- 8980 Rog er Rapier Systems Operations Security Center (AJR
- 213) FAA AIR TRAFFIC SYSTEM OPERATIONS SECURITY 800 Independence Ave., SW Washington, DC 20591 Telephone: 202
- 267
- 8115/5775 Fax: 202
- 267
- 9208 9
- ATOR
- HQ
- RT
- REQ @faa.gov

### A. Oakely Brooks, President & CEO

& Paul Doell, Dir. Govt Affairs National Air Carriers’ Association (NACA) Suite 1700 1000 Wilson Avenue Arlington, VA 22209
- 3901 Telephone: 703
- 358
- 8065 Fax: 703
- 358
- 8070 Pdoell@naca.cc