U.S. Deportment of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration APR

1 f 2017 Mr. Carlos Gomez Vice President Conquest

Air Inc. 5820 Miami Lakes Drive East Miami Lakes

, FL 33014 Dear Mr. Gomez:

BOO Independence Avenue,
SW Washington,

DC 20591 Secretary Chao asked

us to respond

to your March

I letter and April

6 email regarding increasing

the payload

on Part 135 air carriers from 7,500

to 18,000 pounds.

We apologize for the delay

in responding. In

a letter dated May

12

, 2016 (attached),

the Federal Aviation Administration
denied Conquest Air's request

for exemption.

On June

7, 2016, Conquest

Air submitted

a petition for reconsideration

and additional information

to the docket.

On February

17, Conquest

Air s ubmitted additional supporting documentation.

At this time, we are still analyzing

the information submitted

and cannot discuss
our position until the review

is comp

le ted. All of these document

s will be posted

to the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS), which can be found

at: https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D+FAA-2016-4554. We understand
your desire

to resolve your petition
and we are working expeditiously

to finish our review and issue our finding. Thank you for your patience

in this matter. Sincerely, ohn
S. Duncan Director, Flight Standards Service Attachment May 12, 2016 Deni

a l Letter J<,.US

. Deportment of Tronsportotion Federal Aviation Administration Ma
y 12

, 20 16 Mr. Car

l os Gomez Vice President Conquest

Air

, In c. 5820 Miam

i Lakes Drive East Miami Lakes,

FL 33014 Dear Mr. Gomez:
Exemption

No. 16649

8 00
In dep en den

c e Av e

. . S W Wa

s h 1 ng1 on

. 0 C

. 2 0 59
1 Regulatory Docket
No.

F AA-20

1 6-4554 This letter

is to inform you that we have denied your petition

for exempt

i on

. It transmits

our decision

and expla

in
s its basis

. The Basis for Our Decision By

l etter dated February

24

, 2016

, you petitioned

the Federal Aviation Administrat

i on (FAA) on behalf

of Conquest

Air

, Inc. (Conquest

Air) for an exemption
from

§ 119.3
of Title

14

, Code
of Federal Regulations

(14 CFR)

to the extent necessary

to
a llo w Conquest

Air to operate

its Convair
340

a ir craft

in part 135 on-demand

a ll cargo operations above

7

, 500
lb s. payload. Although

you requested relief from § 1

1 9.3

, that section
has been redesignated

to
§ II 0.2. The redesignation

was included

in the

" Operations Specifications

" final rule published

in the Federal Register

on February

I 0, 2011 (76 FR 7482). The FAA has det ermined
that good cause exists
for not publishing

a summary

of the petition in the Federa

l Register because

t hi
s is not

a precedent-setting

pet

i tion, and any delay

in acting on this petition would

be detrimental

to Conquest

A

i r. In your petition

for exemption

, you reference Amerifl

i ght

, Inc. Docket No.

F AA

- 2005

- 20

I 09 (Exemption

No. 8480)

, wherein such
an exempt

ion was granted.
The FAA finds that the circumstances

are not

s uffi

c i e ntly similar

. .In the case of Exemptio

n No. 8480, the relief sought

by the petitioner

p e rtained

to an Embraer EMB-120

, a turbo-propeller powered AFS-16-9249-E2aircraft,andwasnotcomparabletoyourrequest.Inthatcase,thepetitionersoughtandwasgranted,apayloadincreaseonlytoallowthedifferencebetweenbasicoperatingweightplusthecrewandtheaircraft'scertificatedmaximumzero-fuelweight.Forthepetitioner'sEMB120aircraft,thisresultsinamaximumpayloadincreaseofapproximately633poundsabovethe7,500limit.Therelativelysmallincreaseoverthe7,500payloadcapacityallowedbyExemptionNo.8480islimitedbythesizeandcapacityoftheEMB-120aircraft.Incomparison,Conquestisseekingafargreaterincreaseovertheregulatorylimitof7,500poundsthanthatgrantedinExemptionNo.8480.Specifically,ConquestrequeststousethisexemptionfortheConvair340,areciprocatingpoweredairplane,whichhasapayloadcapacityfarabovethe7,500limit.Therefore,theFAAfindsthattherationalefordenyingpreviousrequestsforrelieffromthe7,500poundpayloadlimitisapplicabletoConquest'scircumstances.Inaddition,Conquestreferencesarecommendationbytheparts125and135AviationRulemakingCommittee(ARC),insupportofpermittingaircrafttooperateunderpart135withcargopayloadsoverthe7,500poundlimit.TheFAAnotesthattheConvair340thatConquestoperatesisreciprocatingpowered,notturbo-propellerpowered.TheARCDocumentNo.:Applicability32referencedutilizingmoremodernturbo-proppoweredaircraftwhenitconsideredallowingcargooperatorstooperatewithcargopayloadsgreaterthanthecurrentlimit.Thosepart25certificatedformerregionalairlinerturbo-propaircraftthattheARCconsideredinDocumentNo.:Applicability32haveimprovedsafetyandgreaterperformancethantheolderreciprocatingpoweredaircraftcurrentlyinusebythepetitioner.TheFAAhasissuedadenialofexemptionincircumstancessimiJarinallmaterialrespectstothosepresentedinyourpetition.InDenialofExemptionNo.7864(copyenclosed),theFAAfoundthatifthepetitionerwantedtoconductall-cargooperationswithanairplanethathadapayloadcapacitygreaterthan7,500pounds,itmustdosoassupplementaloperationsunderpartl21.TheFAAhighlightedthatparts121and135eachincludeauniquesetofrequirementsthat,whentakentogether,establishtheminimumrequirementsthatmustbemettoensuresafeoperationsundereachpart.TheFAAfoundthatallowingthepetitionertoselectivelycomplywithisolatedsectionsofparts121and135ratherthancomplyingwithalloftheapplicablerequirementsofeachpartwouldnotprovideanequivalentlevelofsafety.Further,theFAAfoundthatthepetitionerhadnotarticulatedhowagrantofreliefwouldbeappropriateinitsparticularcircumstancesascomparedtootheroperatorswhomightwishtooperateairplaneswithpayloadcapacitiesgreaterthan7,500poundsunderpart135.Havingreviewedyourreasonsforrequestinganexemption,Ifindthat-•theydonotdiffermateriallyfromthosepresentedbythepetitionerintheenclosedDenialofExemptionNo.7864;•thereasonsstatedbytheFAAfordenyingtheenclosedDenialofExemptionNo.7864alsoapplytothesituationyoupresent;and·•agrantofexemptionwouldnotbeinthepublicinterest.Our Decision Under
the authority contained

in 49 U.S.C.

§§

I 06(t)

, 40 11 3 and 4470

I , wh ich the FAA Administrator

has de

l egated

to me

, the petition

for Conquest

Air,

I nc

. for an exempt

i on from 1 4 CFR

§ II 0.2

is hereby denie

d. Sincerely

, Is/ J o hn S. Duncan Director

, Flight Standards
Serv

i ce Enclosure

3