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

JOINT COMMENTS OF AMERICAN, DELTA AND US AIRWAYS TO STREAMLINING SHOW CAUSE ORDER

Communications with respect to this document should be addressed to:

Carl B. Nelson, Jr. Associate General Counsel AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC. 1101 17 th Street NW Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 496-5647 carl.nelson@aa.com

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 howard.kass@usairways.com benjamin.slocum@usairways.com Alexander Van der Bellen Managing Director – Government Affairs & Associate General Counsel Jeff Morgan Director, International and Regulatory Affairs DELTA AIR LINES, INC. 1212 New York Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 842-4184 sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com

January 7, 2010BEFORE 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

JOINT COMMENTS OF AMERICAN, DELTA AND US AIRWAYS TO STREAMLINING SHOW CAUSE ORDER

American, Delta and US Airways hereby s ubmit these Joint Comments to Show

Cause Order 2009-12-21. The points-broadening concept would significantly simplify

the administration of international authorities by eliminating outdated U.S. gateway

restrictions which have lost all relevance in the modern era. In fact, the Department has

already effectively ended such restrictions through the issuance of blanket route

integration to all carriers. 1

While the Joint Commenters support the elimination of U.S. point restrictions, the

Show Cause Order unnecessarily limits this re lief to countries that are not entry or

frequency limited. To the extent markets are “entry-limited,” the designation of carriers

has long since been settled by route case, merger, or other procedures. To the extent

markets are “frequency-limited,” the allocation of frequencies, and the terms and

conditions under which they may be used, ar e governed by frequency allocation orders.

Frequencies may be allocated to gateway-specific routes, which require permission to

be moved (e.g., Colombia, Order 2008-5-27); or frequencies may be allocated eligible

for use in any city-pair market (e.g., Brazil, Order 2004-6-24).

The Joint Commenters urge the Department to make points-broadening authority

applicable to all international markets. This is an industry marked by fierce competition

1 See Order 2006-1-1, this docket.Joint Comments Page 2

and inter-carrier rivalry. It is noteworthy that the pending omnibus points-broadening

applications in this docket have already been reviewed and consented to by all carriers

(with the understanding and expectation that all would be entitled to the same relief). No

party will be prejudiced by the grant of comprehensive points-broadening authority, and

the Department should take decisive action to eliminate these outmoded and

unnecessary restrictions.

When the Department announced its streamlining initiative, it said that:

The Department, through its own exploration of how to better serve the public interest, as well as through its desire to be responsive to comments voiced in various fora by affected parties, has been seeking ways to improve the means by which we carry out procedures related to our international aviation licensing responsibilities. We recognize 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.

With this in mind, we have undertaken an effort to arrive at ways of better implementing existing policies and regulations so as to produce greater administrative efficiencies and greater responsiveness to our stakeholders. At the same time we look to reduce the paperwork, cost, and other burdens on those who come before us.

Notice this docket, August 26, 2005.

Elimination of U.S. point restrictions will serve these goals by enabling the

Department to restate, in single simplified certificates, all of the international points a

carrier is authorized to serve from the United States. 2 All a carrier should need to

demonstrate is that it holds certificate or exemption authority for the foreign point or

points. The old segment-based authorities have no current relevance – and it has been

consistently and repeatedly confirmed that route integration authority enables carriers to

serve new city-pairs not named in their certificate. Adoption of points-broadening

authority will simply make clear and explicit what is already the current reality.

2 Mexico certificates are administered separ ately. Mexico has unique segment-specific designation requirements that have no equiva lent anywhere else in the world.Joint Comments Page 3

Moreover, the Department’s modern practice in issuing new route authority is to

make broad “any points” U.S. authority available – even in “entry-limited” and

“frequency-limited” markets. See NOAT dated August 8, 2008, docket OST-2009-0227

& 0229 (Granting American and Delta authority to serve frequency-limited Northern

Brazil markets from “any point(s) in the United States”); see also NOAT dated November

20, 2008, docket OST-2008-0355 (Granting Northwest authority to serve entry-limited

Vietnam market from “points in the United States”). There is no need to continue to

condition carriers’ historic authorities to gateway-specific points – when new authorities

are routinely granted for entry-limited and frequency-limited markets without such

conditions. As always, carriers must operate their services in accordance with

applicable international agreements – but there is no need for the Department to

perpetuate superfluous point restrictions in carrier certificates.

Finally, the universal application of points-broadening authority will enable all

carriers’ operating rights to be simply and concisely restated – reducing burdens on the

Department which does not have the resources to maintain cumbersome and irrelevant

segment-based authorities. The vast majority of U.S. carrier international certificates

and exemptions have long been expired by their terms – in some cases for more than a

decade – and are carried on indefinitely under the automatic renewal provisions of the

Administrative Procedure Act. This creates potential confusion for carriers in dealing

with foreign governments that do not understand the nuances of U.S. administrative law.

By reissuing single, simplified and restated certificates, the Department will ensure that

carriers always have current and effective authority – which serves the key objectives of

the streamlining initiative and is consistent with principles of good government.Joint Comments Page 4

WHEREFORE, the undersigned carriers urge the Department to modify and

expand the points broadening proposal of Order 2009-12-21 as set forth above.

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 7 th day of January, 2009, 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