BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, DC 

__________________________________________ 

 ) 

Application of ) 

 ) Docket OST-2011- 

Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. ) 

 ) 

For a Statement of Authorization Pursuant ) 

to 14 C.F.R. Part 212 Codesharing With ) 

Virgin Australia International Airlines Pty Ltd ) 

 d/b/a V Australia ) 

__________________________________________) 

APPLICATION OF HAWAIIAN AIRLINES, INC. 

FOR A STATEMENT OF AUTHORIZATION 

Communications with respect to this document should be directed to: 

 Jonathan B. Hill, Esq. 

 J. Parker Erkmann, Esq. 

 Dow Lohnes PLLC 

 1200 New Hampshire Ave., NW 

 Suite 800 

 Washington, DC 20036 

 202/776-2000 

 jhill@dowlohnes.com

 perkmann@dowlohnes.com

 Counsel for Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. 

NOTICE: The applicant requests expedited treatment of this application. Counsel will 

poll interested parties by telephone and inform the Department of the results. 

September 28, 2011 
1 

BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, DC 

__________________________________________ 

 ) 

Application of ) 

 ) Docket OST-2011- 

Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. ) 

 ) 

For a Statement of Authorization Pursuant ) 

to 14 C.F.R. Part 212 Codesharing With ) 

Virgin Australia International Airlines Pty Ltd ) 

 d/b/a V Australia ) 

__________________________________________) 

APPLICATION OF HAWAIIAN AIRLINES, INC. 

FOR A STATEMENT OF AUTHORIZATION 

 Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. (hereinafter “Hawaiian”) recently entered into an 

agreement with Virgin Australia International Airlines Pty Ltd d/b/a V Australia 

(hereinafter, “V Australia”) whereby Hawaiian will place V Australia’s VA* designator 

code on Hawaiian’s inter-island flights and flights between Hawaii and Australia for the 

purpose of transporting Australia – U.S. traffic. Hawaiian therefore requests a blanket 

statement of authorization under Part 212 of the Department’s regulations and waiver of 

the Department’s 45-day advance notice requirement in order to effectuate this 

arrangement. 

 Hawaiian respectfully requests expedited consideration of this application to 

facilitate the marketing and advance sale of these new codeshare services, which will be 

initiated as soon as Department approval has been received. The applicant will poll the 

parties served with this request to determine whether there are any objections to this 

application or the related waiver request. 
2 

In support of this application, Hawaiian states as follows: 

 1. Hawaiian requests a blanket statement of authorization to enable it to 

place V Australia’s VA* code on points served by Hawaiian, with the initial markets for 

these operations listed in Exhibit A. This will enable V Australia to market connecting 

service from Sydney to Honolulu and to and from points in Hawaii under V Australia’s 

designator code. Hawaiian requests a blanket statement of authorization at this time to 

provide it with the flexibility to quickly expand this relationship to additional points 

(including destinations in the continental United States and foreign destinations) in the 

future. 

 2. Approval of this application is consistent with Article 8(7) of the Open 

Skies agreement between the U.S. and Australia, which authorizes liberal codesharing 

between Australian and U.S. carriers, and with the Department’s well-established 

precedent of granting similar blanket codeshare authority for other trans-Pacific 

codeshare partnerships involving Australian and U.S. airlines.1

 3. Hawaiian2 and V Australia3 already hold the broad underlying authority to 

conduct operations on the codeshare routes, and thus only a statement of authorization is 

required to institute these services. 

4. The code-sharing services proposed by Hawaiian and V Australia will 

serve the public interest. Passengers will have increased access to Hawaiian destinations 

including Honolulu and other points in the Hawaiian Islands, and approval of this 

 

1

 See, e.g., Department Action on Application in Docket OST-2000-7785 (Jun. 4, 2002) (authorizing 

designation of American’s AA* code on Qantas). 

2

 Hawaiian holds various certificates of public convenience and necessity and exemptions authorizing it to 

transport persons, property, and mail in the U.S. and internationally, including blanket open skies certificate 

authority. See Order 2007-7-3 (Jul. 10, 2007). Australia is an open skies country. See U.S. Dep’t of State, 

Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs, List of Open Skies Partners (rel. Aug. 26, 2011) 

(available at: http://www.state.gov/e/eeb/rls/othr/ata/114805.htm). 

3

 Order 2009-9-18 (Jul. 28, 2009) (issuing V Australia’s amended foreign air carrier permit). 
3 

application will extend economic benefits not only to V Australia and Hawaiian 

passengers but to Hawaii and destination cities served by Hawaiian. The U.S.-Australia 

Open Skies agreement was adopted by the parties “to facilitate the expansion of 

international air transport opportunities,”4

 and the public interest is served by permitting 

U.S. carriers and travelers to take advantage of the agreement’s liberal provisions. 

5. Moreover, approval of this application is consistent with long-standing 

precedent and Department policy. The Department has consistently granted statements of 

authorization involving implementation of various code share/block space arrangements 

where those arrangements were pro-competitive and in the public interest as is the case 

here. In addition, the Department has confirmed in its international aviation policy 

statement that code share/block space arrangements are in the public interest as they 

provide benefit both in terms of increased service and increased competition: 

Code sharing and other cooperative market agreements can provide a cost 

efficient way for carriers to enter new markets, expand the system and obtain 

additional flow traffic to support their operations by using existing facilities and 

scheduled operations. 

Dep’t of Transp., Statement of United States Int’l Air Transp. Policy, 59 Fed Reg. 

55,523, at 55,525 (Nov. 7, 1994). 

 6. A redacted copy of the Codeshare Agreement between Hawaiian and V 

Australia is submitted as Exhibit B. 

7. Hawaiian will notify the Department no later than 30 days before 

commencing any additional codesharing services under this authorization, and Hawaiian 

and V Australia accept the Department’s standard conditions on limited-entry thirdcountry codesharing services. Hawaiian and V Australia will conduct their codesharing 

 

4

 Air Transport Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America 

and the Government of Australia, dated Feb. 14, 2008, at 1. 
activities in compliance with ParI257 of the Department's Economic Regulations and

any other applicable ruies and regulations.

8. Hawaiian states that the application will have no effect on its Civil

Reserve Air Fleet commitments.

WHEREFORE, Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. requests that the Department promptly

issue a blanket statement of authorization authorizing Hawaiian to display the code of

Virgin Australia Intemational Airlines Pty Ltd d/b/a V Australia, and that the Department

waive its advance notice provisions, as more firlly described above.

1200 New Hampshire Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20036

202/776-2000

ihilt@clor.tlohnes.com

perkmann@dowlohnes.com

Counsel for Hawaiian Airlines, Inc.

B. Hill, Esq.

Parker Erkmann, Esq.
Exhibit A 

CODESHARING POINTS

V Australia will place its code VA* on the following Hawaiian (HA) flights: 

Hawaiian-operated flights on all routes within the State of Hawaii 

Hawaiian-operated flights on all routes between the Hawaii and Australia. 

Initial Hawaiian Operated Codeshare Flights (both directions, commencing as soon as 

Department approval has been received): 

- Honolulu – Kahului, Kona, Lihue, Hilo 

- Honolulu – Sydney, NSW, Australia 


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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certift that a copy ofthe foregoing Application of Hawaiian Airlines,

Inc. for a Statement of Authorization was served this 28th day of September 201 1 via

email transmission on the lollowing persons:

Person

Carl B. Nelson, Jr.

Da¡ Weiss

Sasha Van De¡ Bellen

Steve Morrissey

Howard Kass

G€orge Wellington

Esta Rosenburg

John Allen

Kris Urs

Orgânizat¡on

American

Continental

Delta

United

US Airways

Department of Transportation

DepaÌtment of Transportation

Office ofFlight Standa¡ds Service

F€deral Aviation Administration

Department of State

Email/Mailing Address

carl.nelson@aÀcom

'dan.weiss@coair.com'

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com'

'steve.mo¡rissey@united.com'

howard_kass@usairways.com

george.wellington@dot.gov

€st¿.¡osenbe¡g@dot.gov

john.allen@faa.gov

urskr@state.gov

J. Parker Erkmarrn