BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 

--------------------------------------------- 

Joint Application of : 

 : 

 AIR CANADA : 

 THE AUSTRIAN GROUP : 

 BRITISH MIDLAND AIRWAYS LTD. : DOT-OST-2008- 

 CONTINENTAL AIRLINES, INC. : 0234 

 DEUTSCHE LUFTHANSA AG : 

 POLSKIE LINIE LOTNICZE LOT S.A. : 

 SCANDINAVIAN AIRLINES SYSTEM : 

 SWISS INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES LTD. : 

 TAP AIR PORTGUAL and : 

 UNITED AIR LINES, INC. : 

 : 

to amend Order 2007-2-16 under 49 USC : 

41308 and 41309 so as to approve and : 

confer antitrust immunity : 

--------------------------------------------- 

MOTION OF AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC. FOR 14-DAY 

EXTENSION OF TIME TO ANSWER STAR CARRIERS’ JOINT MOTION 

Communications with respect to this document should be sent to: 

VIRASB VAHIDI WILLIAM K. RIS, JR. 

Senior Vice President - Senior Vice President - 

Marketing and Planning Government Affairs 

and Chief Commercial Officer American Airlines, Inc. 

American Airlines, Inc. 1101 17th Street, N.W. 

P.O. Box 619616, MD 5634 Washington, D.C. 20036 

DFW Airport, Texas 75161 

 CARL B. NELSON 

KENJI C. HASHIMOTO Associate General Counsel 

Vice President – Strategic American Airlines, Inc. 

Alliances 1101 17th Street, N.W. 

American Airlines, Inc. Washington, D.C. 20036 

P.O. Box 619616, MD 5635 (202) 496-5647 

DFW Airport, Texas 75261 carl.nelson@aa.com 

 
ROBERT A. WIRICK 

Director, Regulatory Affairs 

American Airlines, Inc. 

P.O. Box 619616, MD 5635 

DFW Airport, Texas 75261 

(817) 963-0394 

robert.wirick@aa.com 

April 28, 2011 
BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 

--------------------------------------------- 

Joint Application of : 

 : 

 AIR CANADA : 

 THE AUSTRIAN GROUP : 

 BRITISH MIDLAND AIRWAYS LTD. : DOT-OST-2008- 

 CONTINENTAL AIRLINES, INC. : 0234 

 DEUTSCHE LUFTHANSA AG : 

 POLSKIE LINIE LOTNICZE LOT S.A. : 

 SCANDINAVIAN AIRLINES SYSTEM : 

 SWISS INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES LTD. : 

 TAP AIR PORTGUAL and : 

 UNITED AIR LINES, INC. : 

 : 

to amend Order 2007-2-16 under 49 USC : 

41308 and 41309 so as to approve and : 

confer antitrust immunity : 

--------------------------------------------- 

MOTION OF AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC. FOR 14-DAY 

EXTENSION OF TIME TO ANSWER STAR CARRIERS’ JOINT MOTION 

 American Airlines, Inc. hereby moves for a 14-day 

extension of time, from May 2, 2011 to May 16, 2011, to answer 

the joint motion filed by the Star carriers on April 21, 2011 to 

include Brussels Airlines within the scope of the Star antitrust 

immunity granted by Order 2007-2-16, February 10, 2007. 

 American has not yet decided whether to take a position 

on the joint motion, and needs more time to consider both the 

merits of the request and the novel procedure that the Star 

carriers are using to expand their ATI to add another partner. 
- 2 - 

 By styling their request a joint motion rather than an 

application, the Star carriers appear to be disregarding the 

applicable procedural regulation, 14 CFR Part 303, and attempting to avoid the evidentiary submissions that the application 

process requires. As stated in Section 303.03, a person seeking 

approval of a transaction under Section 412 (recodified at 49 

USC 41309) “must” file an application “that conforms to the 

requirements set forth” in Part 303. Section 303.04 states that 

“unless specifically exempted by these regulations or by an 

order of the Assistant Secretary, a person filing an application 

pursuant to 303.03 of this part shall prepare and file the 

application in the manner specified in this section.” 

 The Star carriers acknowledge that Brussels Airlines is 

at present “not majority owned” by Lufthansa (p. 3), but cite an 

EC decision finding that Lufthansa has control of SN Airholding 

SA/NA, Brussels Airlines’ parent company (id.). The Star carriers also point out that three other Lufthansa affiliates, 

Austrian, British Midland, and Swiss, are included within the 

scope of Star ATI. Those three affiliates, however, were added 

under the application process, not by motion. Moreover, the 

EC’s finding on Lufthansa and SN Airholding does not determine 

the Department’s procedures for reviewing ATI requests. 
- 3 - 

 American needs additional time to study the novel issue 

of pursuing ATI by motion rather than by the application process 

set out in 14 CFR Part 303 and developed through DOT case law. 

We also note that had the Star carriers followed the application 

procedures established by Part 303, the answer period would have 

been at least 21 days rather than the seven working days provided for answers to motions. See Section 303.41(a). We 

accordingly request that the answer date for the joint motion be 

extended to May 16, 2011. 

 Respectfully submitted, 

 

 _____________________________ 

 CARL B. NELSON 

 Associate General Counsel 

 American Airlines, Inc. 

April 28, 2011 
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that I have this day served the foregoing document by email 

on the following persons: 

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com jhill@dlalaw.com 

scott.mcclain@delta.com bill@mietuslaw.com 

sametta.c.barnett@delta.com mgoldman@sgbdc.com 

kquinn@pillsburywinthrop.com rsilverberg@sgbdc.com 

bkeiner@crowell.com dhainbach@ggh-airlaw.com 

esahr@eckertseamons.com mcmillin@woa.com 

bruce.rabinovitz@wilmerhale.com eskraft@jamhoff.com 

jeffrey.manley@united.com dpdean@jamhoff.com 

bob.kneisley@wnco.com dkirstein@yklaw.com 

robert.land@jetblue.com jyoung@yklaw.com 

msinick@ssd.com donna.kooperstein@usdoj.gov 

cdonley@ssd.com dwight.moore@ustranscom.mil 

gbleopard@fedex.com john.allen@faa.gov 

david.heffernan@wilmerhale.com urskr@state.gov 

kevin.montgomery@polaraircargo.com recohn@hoganlovells.com 

jrichardson@johnlrichardson.com cjsimpson@zsrlaw.com 

lhalloway@crowell.com pmurphy@lopmurphy.com 

efaberman@wileyrein.com lachter@starpower.net 

mroller@rollerbauer.com anita.mosner@hklaw.com 

howard.kass@usairways.com jennifer.nowak@hklaw.com 

benjamin.slocum@usairways.com gmurphy@crowell.com 

dan.weiss@coair.com russell.bailey@alpa.org 

rpommer@atlasair.com 

 ________________________________ 

 CARL B. NELSON 

April 28, 2011