BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

In the Matter of Streamlining Regulatory 

Procedures for Licensing U.S. Air 

Carriers 

) 

) 

) 

) 

)

Docket DOT-OST-2005-22228 

MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE AND 

JOINT REPLY COMMENTS OF 

AMERICAN, DELTA AND US AIRWAYS 

Communications with respect to this document should be addressed to: 

 

Carl B. Nelson, Jr. 

Associate General Counsel 

AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC. 

1101 17th Street NW 

Washington, D.C. 20036 

(202) 496-5647 

 

Howard Kass 

Vice President, Legal Affairs 

Benjamin T. Slocum 

Director and Assistant General Counsel 

US AIRWAYS, INC. 

1401 H Street, NW 

Suite 1075 

Washington, DC 20005 

(202) 326-5153 

 

Alexander Van der Bellen 

Managing Director – Government Affairs 

 & Associate General Counsel 

Jeff Morgan 

Regional Director, Government Affairs 

DELTA AIR LINES, INC. 

1212 New York Avenue, NW 

Washington, D.C. 20005 

(202) 842-4184 

 

 

February 2, 2010 
BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

In the Matter of Streamlining Regulatory 

Procedures for Licensing U.S. Air 

Carriers 

) 

) 

) 

) 

)

Docket DOT-OST-2005-22228 

MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE AND 

JOINT REPLY COMMENTS OF 

AMERICAN, DELTA AND US AIRWAYS 

American, Continental, Delta and US Airways have each filed Comments on 

Show Cause Order 2009-12-21.1

 There is universal support for expanding the pointsbroadening concept to all international markets – including countries that are entrylimited and frequency limited. 

Continental has raised the concern that such points-broadening authority should 

not be used to undermine the Department’s carrier selection process in limited entry 

markets. Once again, there is no substantive disagreement. American, Delta and US 

Airways believe that the appropriate conditions to avoid this result are already contained 

in the Department’s limited-entry route case awards, and that there is no need for the 

duplicative conditions or additional notice requirements proposed by Continental. 

The Department’s limited entry frequency awards carry specific limitations, where 

appropriate, that are permanently attached to the frequencies.2

 For example, Delta 

recently sought to move limited entry Colombia frequencies from the New York-Bogota 

 

1 To the extent necessary, the Joint Commenters request leave to file these reply comments, 

which will assist the Department’s informed decision making. 

2

 Today limited entry markets are primarily governed by frequency restrictions, rather than 

gateway or designation limits, e.g. Brazil, China, Colombia. Apart from Mexico (which is unique 

and administered separately) designation limits are no longer a significant constraint . Where a 

carrier has historically been designated to serve a foreign country, it should be free to expand or 

modify its service pattern in accordance with market demand, provided that such services are 

consistent with the bilateral agreement and do not require the allocation of any new limited entry 

authority (i.e. frequencies). 
Joint Reply Comments 

Page 2 

to the Atlanta-Bogota market. Delta was already serving Bogota from Atlanta and held 

the necessary underlying authority. Delta required DOT permission because of the 

frequency conditions that were specific to the New York-Bogota market. See Docket 

DOT-OST-2007-0006. Thus, it is readily apparent that certificate/gateway limitations 

are not a meaningful or effective constraint on the exercise of limited-entry authority, and 

that such conditions are not necessary to serve the Department’s route case objectives. 

Frequency conditions, rather than outmoded constraints on carriers’ underlying authority, 

are the right tool for the job. 

The issuance of points-broadening streamlined authority should free carriers and 

the Department from the need to track, maintain, or refer to the outdated and obsolete 

system of segment-based authority. Moreover, the Department has “recognize[d] that 

the need for such streamlining is especially important in the present highly competitive 

and largely liberalized international aviation environment, where carriers face pressing 

demands to maximize efficiency and to minimize costs and the impact of administrative 

delay.” See Notice in this docket (August 26, 2005). 

For the reasons explained above, American, Delta and US Airways believe that 

conditions already contained in the Department’s route case awards are sufficient to 

ensure compliance with the Department’s carrier selection objectives in the modern era, 

and that no additional notice requirements need to be attached to certificates. 

 
Joint Reply Comments 

Page 3 

 

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Alexander Van der Bellen 

_________________________________

/s/ Carl B. Nelson, Jr. 

__________________________ 

Carl B. Nelson, Jr. 

Associate General Counsel 

AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC 

/s/ Howard Kass 

___________________________ 

Howard Kass 

Vice President, Legal Affairs 

US AIRWAYS, INC. 

Alexander Van der Bellen 

Managing Director, Government Affairs 

 & Associate General Counsel 

DELTA AIR LINES, INC. 

 
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

 A copy of the foregoing Comments has been served this 2nd day of February, 2010, 

upon the following persons via email: 

anbird@fedex.com 

anita.mosner@hklaw.com 

benjamin.slocum@usairways.com 

bill@mietuslaw.com 

bob.kneisley@wnco.com 

BTHunt@pncl.com 

byerlyjr@state.gov 

carl.nelson@aa.com 

dan.weiss@coair.com 

daniel.commins@evergreenaviation.com 

dhainbach@ggh-airlaw.com 

Dwight.moore@ustranscom.mil 

hkamen@coair.com 

howard_kass@usairways.com 

jeffrey.manley@united.com 

john.allen@faa.gov 

jrichardson@johnlrichardson.com 

julie.oettinger@united.com 

jyoung@yklaw.com 

kevin.montgomery@polaraircargo.com 

matwood@sherblackwell.com 

mroller@rollerbauer.com 

mrosia@crowell.com 

rpommer@atlasair.com 

rsilverberg@sgbdc.com 

slachter@lachter-clements.com 

art.thomas@horizonair.com 

ben.graves@evergreenairlines.com 

Brian.Gillman@mesa-air.com 

bruce.rabinovitz@wilmerhale.com 

cdonley@ssd.com 

dkirstein@yklaw.com 

dvaughan@kelleydrye.com 

ebailey@wileyrein.com 

efaberman@wileyrein.com 

gmurphy@crowell.com 

gwhite@lac.lynden.com 

jhill@dowlohnes.com 

John.Fredericksen@suncountry.com 

john.palo@evergreenairlines.com 

judy@lynden.com 

kenneth.quinn@pillsburylaw.com 

lhalloway@crowell.com 

mcmillin@woa.com 

mlbenge@zsrlaw.com 

msinick@ssd.com 

mwiegele@nac.aero 

pmurphy@lopmurphy.com 

ranjit.seth@evergreenairlines.com 

rbkeiner@crowell.com 

robert.land@jetblue.com 

scott.peterson@expressjet.com 

sllunsford@fedex.com 

temerson@skywest.com 

Mike.orr@airlineinfo.com 

pdoell@naca.cc 

rpriddy@naca.cc 

TZoeller@naca.cc