1 Shaun Christian

From: Timothy H. Bellas [tim@bellaslaw.net] Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2011 10:46 AM To: Catherine.O'toole@dot.gov Cc: rfchristian@gmail.com; schristian@starmarianasair.com;plchrisitian@gmail.com Subject: Response to Letter from Ms. Remo, Docket DOT-OST-2010-0235. Attachments: 09.26.11 THB response ltr to DOT. signed..pdf

Dear Ms. O’Toole:

Attached please find a response letter to Ms. Remo’s September 16, 2011 letter.

Thank you.
Timothy H. Bellas

Law Offices of Timothy H. Bellas, LLC P.O. Box 502845 Saipan, MP 96950 Tel. 670 323 2115; Fax: 670 323 2116 Local Time GMT+ 10

tim@bellaslaw.net

### Law 

### Offices 

### of 

# c 

# d Y 

# f B LLC

-A LIMITED LEABILIW COMPANY

Cadus & Botones St., Garapan Telephone No. (670) 323-2115 P.O. Box 502845 Fats~rnile No. (670) 33-2116 Saipan,MP %950 Email: tim@belEaslaw.net 

### September 

### 26,201 1



### Ms. Lauralyn J. 

### Remo 

### Chief, Air 

### Carrier Fitness Division Office

### of Aviation 

### Analysis Department of 

### Transportation 

### Washington 

### D.C.



### Re: Response to 

### Letter 

### of September 1 6,201 

### 1 

### Remding Star

### Marianas Air, Fnc.. 

### Docket DOT-OST-2010-023 5.



### Dear Ms. Remo:



### I have 

### represented Star 

### Marianas, Air 

### Tnc. ("SMA"") 

### several times over the 

### course of their inception, as outside counsel, SMA's 

### President, Shaun 

### R. Christian has 

### asked 

### me to 

### respond to 

### your 

### letter, in 

### the hopes of clarifying 

### and resolving 

### any issues 

### which 

### may have 

### arisen due to 

### any prior miscommunications.



### A review 

### of your above 

### referenced letter seems to 

### suggest that your division 

### has 

### concerns 

### re SMA's status as a legitimate 

### air cher because of its relationship with 

### Tinian Dynasty Hotel 

### and Casino, 

### Inc. ("Dynasty"), While there is no 

### control 

### of SMA exercised by 

### non U.S. Citizens 

### or 

### entities such 

### as the Dynasty, 

### there is 

### an obvious 

### business 

### relationship between 

### the two 

### entities.

While 

### SMA desires to 

### expand the air service options 

### available 

### to the local resident population 

### of the island 

### of Tinian, 

### currently the bulk 

### of its 

### operations are centered 

### on its air taxi 

### service. As should 

### not be difficult to 

### understand the members of the 

### local 

### community, (which 

### consists 

### of 2,500 

### to 3,999 

### persons') generally, 

### do not have the 

### resavrces or the 

### need to 

### charter an 

### aircraft. The 

### Dynasty, on 

### the other hand, operates a hotel 

### and casino 

### on Tinian 

### and its 

### customers arrive

on 

### Saipan 

### and need to be 

### transported to 

### Tinian at 

### various times 

### of each day.
Although, SMA's 

### operations 

### do cater to the 

### needs 

### of the 

### Dynasty% arriving guests, this is 

### simply the 

### reality of

### doing business with a 

### single 

### major client 

### and not because 

### Dynasty dictates 

### the 

### management or has 

### any operationa1 control over 

### SMA. The need 

### for ferryingpassengers is dictated 

### in large 

### part by their 

### arrival times on other 

### carriers 

### to the Saipan International 

### Airport.



### In reviewing the 

### business relationship 

### between SMA and 

### Dynasty, 

### 1 note that there 

### has 

### been


### some infomality 

### in the 

### formation of 

### the 

### air 

### charter agreement 

### between 

### the two entities. 

### Their agreement 

### is onlymemorialized via 

### an ernail 

### between the two entities.



### U. S

. Census Bureau, 2010 census figure. 1DOTRespo~is~ Letter September 26,201I Page 2 of 3



### This is not 

### unusual in 

### this region of the United 

### States for 

### various reasons.
However, 

### in view of your concerns 

### and in my opinion in order for SW to have a 

### more legally enforceable contract, 

### I have suggested 

### to my client that the terms of the air charter 

### agreement between SMA and Dynasty should be memorialized in 

### a written 

### contract.This 

### wiIl be drafted 

### shortly by 

### me and executed 

### by the respective parties. 

### Upon the 

### execution of the contract, SMA will provide 

### you with 

### an executed 

### copy for your records. While drafting this type 

### of agreement is 

### not something that 

### I do on a 

### regular basis, 

### I will ensure that 

### provisions are contained in the contract 

### which at a 

### minimum:

a. insulate both parties 

### from the business activities 

### of the other;
b, define that SMA is an independent contractor of 

### Dynasty;

c. statethat Dynasty has 

### no financial interest 

### or control 

### of SMA operations.

AIso 

### as an act of good faith, 

### Mr. Christian. 

### has executed a 

### modified attestationto 

### this letter, verifying that the information which he has provided 

### to me and which is contained 

### in this letter is 

### all true and correct.

Please understand that currently every business in the CNMT, 

### no mattes its size, is ofcritical importance in these fragile 

### economic times. Therefore, shutting down, a business of SMA's 

### size, would have a substantial direct 

### and ripple 

### effect impact 

### on the 

### Tinian as well as 

### the Saipan 

### economies.Therefore, we look forward to working with 

### you 

### in addressing 

### all ofyour concerns and resolving 

### this matter at 

### this level to avoid such a 

### drastic result. If 1 have 

### missed 

### somethingin my review of this matter. 

### which you believe still needs to be addressed, 

### please let 

### me know.
Sincerely, 

# 7- fl

Timothy 

### H. Be1 as



### cc: 

### Client FileDOTResponseI;eIter September26,201 1 Page 3 of 3



### ATTESTATION

The contents 

### of this letter are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and 

### belief. Pursuant to Title 18 United States Code Section 1001, 

### I Shaun Chstian, President of Star 

### Marianas Air, Lnc., 

### inmy 

### individual capacity and as the authorized representative 

### of SMA, verify that 

### I have not 

### in any manner knowingly and willfully 

### provided any 

### falsified, fictitious, 

### or fraudulent statement or knowingly used any documents 

### which contain such statements 

### in connectionwith the preparation, 

### ofthis letter. 1 understand that 

### an individual who 

### is 

### found to 

### have violated 

### the provisions of the 

### I 8 U.S.C. Section 1001 shaIl be fined 

### or imprisoned for not 

### more than five years, m 

### both.

Dated : September 26,20 1 1 

### Sbaun Christian?~residentStar Marianas Air, Inc.