U.S. Department of 

Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

Of Transportation 

August 23, 2012 

Mr. Robert E. Cohn 

Mr. Patrick R. Rizzi 

# Counsel for Rhoades Aviation, Inc. d/b/a Trans air 

Hogan Lovells US LLP 

555 Thirteenth Street, N.W. 

Washington, DC 20004 

Dear Messrs. Cohn and Rizzi: 

1200 New Jersey Ave., S.E. 

Washington, DC 20590 

On July 24, 2012, Rhoades Aviation, Inc. d/b/a Transair ("Rhoades") filed an application in 

Docket DOT-OST-2011-0216 requesting that the Department find it fit to conduct operations as 

a certificated air carrier. In connection with that filing, Rhoades filed a motion for confidential 

treatment under 14 CFR 302.12 (Rule 12) of our Procedural Regulations for certain information 

the company was providing. The purpose of this letter is to notify you of our intended ruling on 

that motion. 

In its motion, Rhoades requested that the Department withhold the following information: 

1. FAA Certificate Numbers of Key Personnel ("Exhibit RDS-3, Page 1") 

2. Forecast consolidated statement of assets & liabilities ("Exhibit RDS-7, Page 1 ") 

3. Forecast consolidated statement of revenues & expenses ("Exhibit RDS-7, Page 2") 

4. Forecast revenue and cost analysis for 737 aircraft of Trans Executive Airlines of Hawaii 

d/b/a/ Transair ("Exhibit RDS-7, Page 3 ") · 

Rhoades states in its motion that the "public release of this commercial, sensitive information 

pertaining to the applicant's future operating plans and financial projections would cause 

Rhoades substantial competitive harm." Rhoades further notes that it is a "privately-held 

corporation that will be operating in an intensively competitive market" and that "the type of 

detailed commercially sensitive information at issue here is not otherwise required to be publicly 

disclosed." 

Rule 12 instructs us to evaluate requests for confidential treatment by the standards of disclosure 

found in the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. Section 552). Information may be withheld 

from disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) if it is (1) commercial or financial, (2) obtained from a 

person outside of government, and (3) privileged or confidential (Gu(f" and Westem Industries. 

Inc. v. United States, 615 F.2d 527,529 (D.C. Cir. 1979)). 

There is no question that the information for which Rhoades seeks confidential treatment is 

financial or commercial in nature and that it was obtained from a person outside the government. 

The remaining question is whether the information is privileged or confidential-whether 
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"disclosure of the information is likely to have either of the following effects: (1) impair the 

Government's ability to obtain necessary information; or (2) cause substantial harm to the 

competitive position from whom the information was obtained" (National Parks and 

Conservation Association v. Morton, 498 F.2d 765, 770 (D.C. Cir. 1974)). Further, to be 

privileged or confidential, the information must not be of the type that is usually released to the 

public (Gulf and Western Industries, Inc. v. United States, 615 F.2d 527, 530 (D.C. Cir. 1979)). 

We have reviewed the material submitted and have decided to grant confidential treatment to 

some, but not all, of the information for which such treatment is sought. 

With respect to Exhibit RDS-3, Page 1, the Department has granted confidential treatment to 

similar information in the past and we see no reason not to do so here. Therefore, Exhibit 

RDS-3, Page 1 is granted confidential treatment. Regarding Exhibit RDS-7, Page 1 and Exhibit 

RDS-7, Page 2, the Department typically grants confidential treatment to an applicant's projected 

revenues. We find that release of this information could cause substantial harm to the 

competitive position of the applicant. The same standard applies to an applicant's projected 

future income. However, this treatment does not extend to an applicant's projected balance 

sheet, which includes its projected assets. It is not the Department's practice to withhold such 

information from public disclosure when determining that applicant's financial fitness. Thus, 

confidential treatment of Rhoades' statement of projected assets (Exhibit RDS-7, Page 1) is 

denied. Confidential treatment of Rhoades' statement of projected income (Exhibit RDS-7, Page 

2) is partially granted, solely to the rows indicating projected revenues and net income: 

"Revenues" and "Net Income." 

As mentioned above, the Department typically grants confidential treatment to an applicant's 

projected revenue statements including revenue and cost analysis statements for particular 

aircraft. Thus, we grant confidential treatment to Exhibit RDS-7, Page 3. However, please note 

that the Boeing 737 revenue and cost analysis submitted to us in Exhibit RDS-7, Page 3 is 

labeled as "Trans Executive Airlines of Hawaii d/b/a Transair." Thus, the confidential treatment 

that we are granting strictly pertains to the Boeing 737 revenue and cost analysis for Trans 

Executive Airlines. It does not apply to Rhoades, the applicant at issue. Rhoades remains free to 

file updated information pertaining to its initial fitness determination with the Department if it 

wishes to do so. 

Under Rule 12, the information identified above for which confidential treatment is not granted 

will be released to any person requesting it unless, within 5 (business) days from the date of the 

receipt of this letter, the applicant files with this office a petition for reconsideration or a written 

statement in good faith of its intent to seek judicial review of this decision. Please inform us if 

Rhoades wishes to pursue either option. If reconsideration or judicial review of this decision is 

not sought, Rhoades should immediately resubmit the redacted exhibits and those for which 

confidentiality has been denied to the appropriate docket for placement on the public record. 
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In the meantime, as is the Department's practice, further processing of your application will be 

deferred pending receipt of this material. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. If you 

have any questions regarding this letter, please feel free to contact Reese Davidson of my staff at 

(202) 366-8161 or via e-mail at Reese.Davidson@dot.gov. 

Lauralyn . Remo 

Chief, Air Carrier Fitness Division 

Office of Aviation Analysis 

cc: Docket DOT-OST-2011-0216 

Ms. Mary Ballard 

POI for Rhoades Aviation, Inc. 

FAA Indianapolis FSD0-11 

1201 Columbia Road, Suite 101 

Plainfield, IN 46168 

Mr. Teimour Riahi 

Chief Executive Officer 

Rhoades Aviation, Inc. d/b/a Trans air 

100 Iolana Place 

Honolulu, HI 96819