July 22, 2016 

Mr. Stephen M. Dickson 

Senior Vice President, Flight Operations 

Delta Air Lines, Inc. 

1010 Delta Boulevard 

Department 027 

Atlanta, GA 30354 

Dear Mr. Dickson: 

This is in response to your January 20, 2016, letter sent to the public docket (No. FAA-2016-

3659) petitioning the Federal Aviation Administration on behalf of Delta Air Lines, Inc. 

(Delta) for an exemption from §§ 61.3(a) and (c), 63.3(a), and 121.383(a)(2) of Title 14, 

Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). That exemption, if granted, would allow Delta to 

issue written confirmation of an FAA-issued crewmember certificate to a flight crewmember 

employed by that air carrier based on information in the air carrier’s approved record system. 

In the past, the FAA issued an exemption for member air carriers of Airlines for America 

(A4A) (Docket No. FAA-2002-12455) and other similarly situated air carriers to exercise the 

relief described above, for which you previously held an exemption. However, in an effort to 

manage exemptions granted by the FAA and to facilitate operator compliance with the 

conditions and limitations of a grant of exemption, the FAA is no longer including “similarly 

situated air carriers” in grants of exemption. 

The FAA now requires a certificate holder that is not a member of A4A to submit its own 

petition for exemption. As a result, based on your petition for exemption, we have added 

Delta to the list found in Exemption No. 5487L, as amended. 
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For the reasons above, we consider your request closed and thereby will not take any further 

action.

Sincerely, 

/s/ 

Brandon Roberts 

Manager, Airmen and 

Airspace Rule Division 

Enclosure 

 
AFS-16-9305-E 

July 22, 2016 

 Exemption No. 5487L 

 Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2002-12455 

Mr. Jeff Miller 

Managing Director Flight Operations 

Airlines for America 

1275 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 1300 

Washington, DC 20004 

Dear Mr. Miller: 

This letter is to inform you that we have granted your petition to extend Exemption No. 5487, 

as amended. It explains the basis for our decision, describes its effect, and lists the conditions 

and limitations. 

The Basis for Our Decision 

By letter dated February 4, 2016, you petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 

on behalf of Airlines for America (A4A), for an extension and amendment to Exemption 

No. 5487, as amended. That exemption from §§ 61.3(a) and (c), 63.3(a), and 121.383(a)(2) of 

Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) allows an air carrier to issue written 

confirmation of an FAA-issued crewmember certificate to a flight crewmember employed by 

that air carrier based on information in the air carrier’s approved record system. 

In your petition, you indicate that there has been no change in the conditions and reasons 

relative to public interest and safety that were the basis for granting the original exemption. 

You requested an amendment to allow the temporary confirmation to be provided through an 

electronic document. The FAA found that this amendment would be precedent setting and 

published a summary of the petition in the Federal Register on April 15, 2016 (78 FR 23799). 

In order to expedite the issuance of the extension before the exemption expires on July 31, 

2016, A4A withdrew its request for the amendment. The FAA is prepared to consider the 
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requested amendment when A4A resubmits its petition after receiving an extension to 

Exemption No. 5487. 

As a separate issue, when A4A previously petitioned for this exemption, the FAA granted 

relief to the petitioner’s member airlines, as well as to all other “similarly situated” air 

carriers, which included any air carrier operating under the provisions of part 121 in 

Exemption No. 5487. However, in an effort to manage exemptions granted by the FAA and 

to facilitate operator compliance with the conditions and limitations of a grant of exemption, 

the FAA is no longer including “similarly situated air carriers” in grants of exemption. 

In order for any air carrier that is not a member or associate member of A4A to exercise the 

relief provided by this grant of exemption, the carrier must submit a petition for similar relief 

that references Exemption No. 5487. After analysis of the petition, if appropriate, the FAA 

will amend Attachment 1 to Exemption No. 5487 to include the additional air carrier. An air 

carrier may only exercise the relief provided by this grant of exemption when it is listed in 

Attachment 1 to Exemption No. 5487, as amended. 

The FAA highlights that the Regional Airline Association’s part 121 member carriers have 

been granted a separate exemption to allow issuance of written confirmation of an FAAissued crewmember certificate, on a temporary basis, to a flight crewmember employed by 

that air carrier based on information in the air carrier’s approved record system (Exemption 

No. 11152). Exemption No. 11152 applies to Regional Airline Association members only. 

Our Decision 

The FAA has determined that the justification for the issuance of Exemption No. 5487, as 

amended, remains valid with respect to this exemption and is in the public interest. 

Therefore, under the authority provided by 49 U.S.C. §§ 106(f), 40113, and 44701, which the 

FAA Administrator has delegated to me, Airlines for America is granted an extension of its 

exemption from 14 CFR 61.3(a) and (c), 63.3(a), and 121.383(a)(2) which allows an air 

carrier to issue written confirmation of an FAA-issued crewmember certificate to a flight 

crewmember employed by that air carrier based on information in the air carrier’s approved 

record system, subject to the following conditions and limitations. 

Conditions and Limitations 

1. Prior to utilizing any provision of this plan each air carrier must develop, submit to, 

and have approved by the FAA Principal Operations Inspector assigned to that carrier 

a plan outlining the procedures it expects to employ in issuing a temporary 

confirmation document to crewmembers who do not have in their personal possession 

the airmen or medical certificate required under 14 CFR 61.3 and/or 63.3 for a 

particular flight. 

2. If the individual no longer has any identification, the carrier’s procedures, specified in 

condition and limitation No. 1, must include a method to assure positive identification 

of the individual. 
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3. Each airman who operates a flight under this exemption must comply with §§ 61.29 

and/or 63.16 and assure that a request for an official communication from the FAA 

confirming the applicable certificate is made within 72 hours of the initiation of any 

flight conducted under this exemption. The air carrier is authorized to make this 

application to the FAA on behalf of each applicable airman. The airman must provide 

a copy of the official communication to the air carrier within 24 hours of the receipt of 

that official communication. 

4. The carrier’s confirmation must include the written words “Issued under the authority 

of Exemption No. 5487, as amended.” 

5. The privileges of this exemption may only be exercised when the affected airman 

operates totally within the District of Columbia and the 48 contiguous states of the 

United States. 

The Effect of Our Decision 

Our decision extends the termination date to July 31, 2018, unless sooner superseded or 

rescinded. 

Sincerely, 

/s/ 

John Barbagallo 

Deputy Director, Flight Standards Service 
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Attachment 1 

The relief provided by Exemption No. 5487L is limited to the air carriers listed below:1 

Airlines for America 

Alaska Airlines, Inc. 

American Airlines, Inc. and/or US Airways, Inc. 

Atlas Air, Inc. 

Federal Express Corporation 

Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. 

JetBlue Airways Corp. 

Southwest Airlines Co. 

United Airlines, Inc 

United Parcel Service Co. 

Air Canada (Associate Member) 

Additional Air Carriers2

Allegiant Air, LLC 

Delta Air Lines, Inc. 

Miami Air International, Inc. 

Omni Air International, Inc. 

Spirit Airlines, Inc. 

 

1 Attachment amended July 25, 2016. 2

 Additional air carriers petitioned for exemption through the following FAA Docket Numbers: Allegiant Air, 

FAA-2016-7051; Delta Air Lines, FAA-2016-3659; Miami Air, FAA-2016-7050; Omni Air, FAA-2016-7405; 

Spirit Airlines, FAA-2016-7056