U.S. Department Assistant Secretary 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

of Transportation Washington, DC 20590 

Office of the Secretary May 11, 2010 

of Transportation 

The Honorable Samuel L. Jones 

Mayor of Mobile 

Mobile, AL 36633 

Dear Mayor Jones: 

c:; 

Thank you for your letter ofApril 7 supporting the application for antitrust immmrity filed by 

American Airlines and Japan Airlines. lam responding on behalf ofSecretary LaHood. 

As you may know, the applicants-·· members of the oneworld Alliance-are seeking antitrust 

immunity to closely coordinate flights between the United States and Asia. According to the 

application, the alliance partners plan to launch a joint venture for conveyance of transpacific 

traffic. 

The application is administered in a public docket, which ensures that interested parties have the 

opportunity to comment. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) will evaluate the 

application according to rigorous statutory standards, beginning with a review of the record to 

determine if it is substantially complete. Decisions on the application are made in consultation 

with the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division following a thorough analysis of 

competitive factors. As this matter is now pending, I hope you understand that I carinot 

comment on the merits ofthe application. I can assure you, however, that DOT will give :full 

and fair consideration to the application as well as any comments filed in the docket. 

As is our normal practice, 1 am placing a copy of your letter and this response in Docket 

DOT-OST-2010-0059 as a contact outside the record in this matter. I appreciate your interest in 

this proceeding. 

usan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary 

for A lation and Intem;:ttional Affairs 
-

S 10-1004] 3-023 


CITY OF MOBILE OtTICE Of'THE CITY COIJNCIL

COlfNCILMllMIIEIIS ' 

REGGIE corELAND.SR. 

PIU!SIDJINT·DISTIUCT 5 

FREDRICK D.lU<lIIAIDSON, JR. 

VICE PltIISIDlINI'.DIS'I1UCf 1 

WILLIAM C. CARROLL,JR. 

OI'STRJCT% 

.JERMAINE A. BUltRELL 

DIS1'RICl' 3 

April 7,2010 JOHN C. WQ.UA.MS 

DlSTlUCT4 

CONNIB.BUDSON 

SAMUEL L. JONl!'S DlSTlUCT6

MAYOR GINA GUOOIlY 

DIST1IIC1'7 

CITY CLI!IUt 

LISA C.LUfllRT 

The Honorable Raymond H. LaHood 


Secretary 


U.S. Department ofTransportation 


1200 New Jersey Ave, SE 


Washington, DC 20590 


Docket DOT-OST-2010-" 

Dear Mr. Secretary: 

Thank you for the opportunity to express ouuupport for the application for antitrust 


immunity and proposed joint business agreement filed by American Airlines and Japan 


Airlines. The proposed alliance between these two airlin~aTfor~.9rld to 


compete effectively with the Star and SkyTeamalliance. This increased interalliance 


competition will in turn enhance the benefits ofthe Department's Open Skies policy ­

first by solidifying U.S.-Japan Open Skiesj then by serving as a foundation for further 


liberalization across Asia. 


After a thorough review, we encourage the Department of Transportation to approve this 


application as it would enable these oneworld alliance airlines to work closely togethes; to 


deliver highly competitive air transportation services. Approval for AAlJAL alliance will 


have a positive impact on air travel by offering customers more service, scheduling and 


pricing options and will help to ensure that customers continue to benefit from having 


three competitive air alliances to choose from. 


Thank you for your consideration-of this application. 

SU/jb 

P. O. BOX 1827 • MOBILE, ALABAMA 34i633-1827