BEFORE THE
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C.

Application of ) )
ROYAL JET LLC ) ) Docket No. OST

- 2015

- for an exemption pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 )
and a foreign air carrier permit pursuant ) to 49 U.S.C. § 41301 (UAE

– U.S. Charters ) ) )

MOTION FOR CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT UNDER RULE 12

Communications with respect to this document should be addressed to:

Josh Romanow
Peter Nelson
PILLSBURY WINTHROP
SHAW PITTMAN LLP
1200 Seventeenth Street NW Washington, DC 20036
Phone: +1

- 202

- 663

- 8000 Email: romanow@pillsburylaw.com peter.nelson@pillsburylaw.com

Counsel for Royal Jet LLC

March 12

, 20152 BEFORE THE
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C.

Application of ) )
ROYAL JET LLC ) ) Docket No. OST

- 2015

- for an exemption pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 ) and a foreign air carrier permit pursuant ) to 49 U.S.C. § 41301 (UAE

– U.S. Charters ) ) )

MOTION FOR CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT UNDER RULE 12

Pursuant to Rule 12 of the Department’s Rules of Practice, 1 Royal Jet LLC (“Royal Jet”)

,

an air carrier of the United Arab Emirates, hereby respectfull y moves to withhold from public

disclosure the following e xhibits to its Application for an E xemption and F oreign A ir C arrier

P ermit, filed with the Department on March 12

, 2015 :

• Exhibit H , which includes Royal Jet’s financial statement s as of December 31, 201 2 and

201 3 , including its balance shee t, income statement, and statement of cash flows; and

• Exhibit I, which contains Royal Jet ’s first

- year traffic and financial forecast (together

with Exhibit H, the “Exhibits”).

The information contained in these Exhibits is being submitted in the form of a Confidential

Exhibit to Royal Jet ’s application

, which is attached hereto in a sealed envelope and marked in

accordance with Rule 12. As more fully stated herein, this information contains certain

proprietary, commercially

- sensitive, and confidential business information. In support thereof,

Royal Jet states as follows:

1 14 C.F.R. § 302.12.3 1. Rule 12 of the Department’s Rules of Practice instructs the Department to

evaluate requests for confidential treatment by the standards of disclosure found in the Freedom

of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552 (“FOIA”). Information may be withheld from disclosure

under 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(4) if it is (1) commercial or financial, (2) obtained from a person outside

of government , and (3) privileged or confidential. Gulf and Western Indus., Inc. v. United States

,

615 F.2d 527, 529 (D.C. Cir. 1979). As to the third prong of this test, the Department must

consider whether “disclosure of the information is likely to have either of the following effects:

(1) impair the government’s ability to obtain necessary information; or (2) cause substantial

harm to the competitive position of the person from whom the information was obtained.”

National Parks and Conservation Assoc. v. Morton

, 498 F.2d 765, 770 (D.C. Cir. 1974). Finally,

to be privileged or confidential, the information must not be of the type that is usually released to

the public. Gulf and Western , at 530. Royal Jet ’s Exhibit s meet these standards for protection.

2. Royal Jet ’s Exhibit s include sensitive business and financial data relevant to the

Department’s review of Royal Jet ’s application for an exemption and foreign air carrier permit.

Public disclosure of this information would cause substantial harm to Royal Jet ’s competitive

position and investors by disclosing details of its otherwise confidential business and financial

activities. Third parties could obtain this information and use it to undermine Royal Jet ’s

operations, thus causing economic harm to Royal Jet

.

3. The confidential information must be obtained from a person outside of

government to be granted confidential treatment. Royal Jet is a private limited liability company

based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates , which meets the definition of “person outside of

government.”

4

. In terms of the nature of the information included in the Exhibit s , Royal Jet does4 not release unaudited financial information or future financial plans to the public . As such, the

information in the Exhibit s is privileged and should be given confidential treatment.

5

. In sum, the information that is sought to be withheld from public disclosure meets

the standards for nondisclosure found in exemption (4) of FOIA, 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(4), in that it

is (1) comme rcial or financial, (2) obtained from a person outside the government, and (3)

privileged or confidential. See Gulf & Western Industries, Inc. v. United States , 615 F.2d 527,

529 (D.C. Cir. 1979); National Parks and Conservation Assoc. v. Morton , 498 F.2d 765, 770

(D.C. Cir. 1974). The Department has previously granted numerous motions for confidential

treatment filed by other foreign carriers seeking to withhold similar financial information

submitted in connection with permit or exemption applications f rom public disclosure. See

Comlux Aruba N.V. , Order 2013

- 11

- 5, fn. 2; Midlex Airlines , Order 2010

- 11

- 20, fn. 2; 1263343

Alberta Inc. d/b/a Enerjet , Order 2009

- 3

- 22, fn. 2; Comlux Malta Ltd. , Order 2008

- 12

- 15, fn. 3;

ACM Air Charter Luftfahrtgesellschaft M BH , Order 2006

- 7

- 6, fn. 2. Finally, release of this

financial information would impair the government’s ability to collect such information in the

future. Royal Jet ’s sensitive financial information should be similarly granted confidential

treatment.5 W HEREFORE, Royal Jet respectfully requests that the designated E xhibit s which are

attached hereto in a sealed envelope be accorded confidential treatment under 14 CFR § 302.12.

Respectfully submitted,

Josh Romanow
Peter Nelson
PILLSBURY WINTHROP
SHAW PITTMAN LLP
1200 Seventeenth Street NW Washington, DC 20036
Phone: +1

- 202

- 663

- 8000 Email: romanow@pillsburylaw.com peter.nelson@pillsburylaw.com

Counsel for Royal Jet LLC1 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing exemption and foreign a ir carrier application has
been served this the 12 th day of March 2015 , upon each of the parties below by electronic mail.

Sascha Vanderbellen
Chris Walker
Delta Airlines sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com chris.walker@delta.com

Robert Wirick
Howard Kass American Airlines, Inc. robert.wirick@aa.com howard.kass@aa.com

Steve Morrissey
Dan Weiss
United Air Lines steve.morrissey@united.com dan.weiss@united.com

Anita Mosner
Jennifer Nowak
Counsel for United Pa rcel Service Co Holland & Knight anita.mosner@hklaw.com jennifer.nowak@hklaw.com

Russell Pommer
Atlas Air rpommer@atlasair.com

Bailey Leopard Nancy Sparks Federal Express Corporation gbleopard@fedex.com nssparks@fedex.com

Thomas S. Engle Department of State EngleTS@state.gov

Paul Gretch U.S. Department of Transportation paul.gretch@dot.gov

/s/Melinda A. Hernandez
Melinda A. Hernandez