U.S. Department of

Transportation

Office of the Secretary

of Transportation

DEPARTMENT ACTION ON APPLICATION IN DOCKET DOT-OST-2003-14367

(Filed June 7, 2012)

Joint application of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (Delta), Korean Air Lines Co. Ltd., 

(Korean), Pinnacle Airlines Corp., Inc. (Pinnacle), and SkyWest Airlines, Inc. 

(SkyWest) for blanket statements of authorization permitting Pinnacle and SkyWest

to display the “KE” designator code of Korean on Delta Connection flights operated 

by Pinnacle and SkyWest on behalf of Delta (a) within the United States (in 

conjunction with Korean’s services in foreign air transportation); and (b) between the 

United States and third countries. The Joint Applicants also request a waiver of the 

45-day advance filing requirement under 14 CFR Part 212.1

 * Approved under assigned authority (14 CFR §385.13).

 Date of Action: June 12, 20122

This action is subject to the conditions attached. Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of 

this action under the Department’s regulations, 14 CFR §385.30, should file their petitions within seven 

days of the date of this action. This action is effective immediately, and the filing of a petition for review 

will not alter its effectiveness.

An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide Web at

http://www.regulations.gov

 1 The Joint Applicants also request that the code-share authority granted here be administered jointly with the 

existing authority for Korean code sharing on Delta and other Delta Connection carriers in this docket and that a 

non-open-skies point code-share notice given by Delta, Korean, or any of the regional partners or code-share 

affiliates authorized in this docket be deemed notice given by all the carriers, except for U.S.-Mexico service where 

notices will continue to be provided on an operating carrier-specific basis. The Joint Applicants also incorporate by 

reference all previous non-Mexico code-share point notices provided in this docket, including the March 18, 2009, 

Delta/Korean blanket open-skies code-share notice. 2 We acted on the application without awaiting expiration of the answer period with the consent of all parties served.
Appendix A

The code-share operations authorized here are subject to the following conditions:

(a) The statements of authorization granted will remain in effect only as long as (i) Delta, Pinnacle, 

SkyWest, and Korean continue to hold the necessary underlying authority to operate the code-share 

services at issue, and (ii) the code-share agreement providing for the code-share operations remains in 

effect.

(b) Delta, Pinnacle, SkyWest, and/or Korean, as appropriate, must notify the Department no later than 30 

days before they begin any new code-share service under the code-share services authorized here. Such 

notice shall identify the market(s) to be served, which carrier will be operating the aircraft in the codeshare market added, and the date on which the service will begin. Such notice should be filed in Docket 

DOT-OST-2003-14367.

3

(c) Delta, Pinnacle, SkyWest, and/or Korean, as appropriate, must promptly notify the Department if the 

code-share agreement providing for the code-share operations is no longer effective or if the carriers 

decide to cease operating all or a portion of the approved code-share services. Such notice should be filed 

in Docket DOT-OST-2003-14367.

4

(d) The code-sharing operations conducted under this authority must comply with 14 CFR 257 and with 

any amendments to the Department’s regulations concerning code-share arrangements that may be 

adopted. Notwithstanding any provisions in the contract between the carriers, our approval here is 

expressly conditioned upon the requirements that the subject foreign air transportation be sold in the name 

of the carrier holding out such service in the computer reservation systems and elsewhere; that the carrier 

selling such transportation (i.e., the carrier shown on the ticket) accept responsibility for the entirety of 

the code-share journey for all obligations established in its contract of carriage with the passenger; and 

that the passenger liability of the operating carrier be unaffected.

(e) The authority to operate to third countries is subject to the condition that any service provided under 

these blanket statements of authorization shall be consistent with all applicable agreements between the 

United States and the foreign countries involved. Furthermore, (i) nothing in the award of these blanket

statements of authorization should be construed as conferring upon Pinnacle or SkyWest rights (including 

code-share, fifth freedom intermediate and/or beyond rights) to serve markets where U.S. carrier entry is 

limited unless Pinnacle or SkyWest notifies the Department of their intent to serve such a market and 

unless and until the Department has completed any necessary carrier selection procedures to determine 

which carrier(s) should be authorized to exercise such rights; and (ii) should there be a request by any 

carrier to use the limited-entry route rights that are included in the authority of Pinnacle and SkyWest by 

virtue of the blanket statements of authorization granted here, but that are not then being used by Pinnacle 

or SkyWest, the holding of such authority will not be considered as providing any preference for Pinnacle 

or SkyWest in a competitive carrier selection proceeding to determine which carrier(s) should be entitled 

to use the authority at issue.5

(f) The authority granted here is specifically conditioned so that neither Delta, Pinnacle, SkyWest, nor 

Korean shall give any force or effect to any contractual provisions between themselves that are contrary 

to these conditions.

We may amend, modify, or revoke the authority granted at any time without hearing at our discretion.

 3 See Appendix B for list of initial code-share points. We grant the requests that notice given by Delta, Pinnacle, 

SkyWest, or any of the Delta Connection carriers authorized in this docket, be deemed as notice given by all carriers 

(except in the case of Mexico where operator-specific notices will continue to be supplied for Delta/Delta 

Connection services).

4 We expect this notification to be received within ten (10) days after such non-effectiveness or of such decision. 5 The notice in paragraph (b) above can be used for this notification. 
Appendix B

Page 1 of 2

INITIAL LIST OF CODE-SHARE POINTS

“KE” designator code on Delta Connection flights operated by Pinnacle:

 
Appendix B

Page 2 of 2

INITIAL LIST OF CODE-SHARE POINTS

“KE” designator code on Delta Connection flights operated by SkyWest: