U.S. Department of

Transportation

Office of the Secretary

of Transportation

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

(Filed September 29, 2011)

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

(Korean), and Mesaba Aviation, Inc. (Mesaba) for a statement of authorization 

permitting Mesaba to display the “KE” designator code of Korean on Delta 

Connection flights operated by Mesaba 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: October 14, 2011

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.
Appendix A

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

(a) The statement of authorization granted will remain in effect only as long as (i) Delta, Mesaba, 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, Mesaba, 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 code-share market 

added, and the date on which the service will begin. Such notice should be filed in Docket DOT-OST2003-14367.

2

(c) Delta, Mesaba, 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.

3

(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 

this statement 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 this statement of 

authorization should be construed as conferring upon Mesaba rights (including code-share, fifth freedom 

intermediate and/or beyond rights) to serve markets where U.S. carrier entry is limited unless 

Mesaba notifies the Department of its 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 Mesaba by virtue of the statement of authorization 

granted here, but that are not then being used by Mesaba, the holding of such authority will not be 

considered as providing any preference for Mesaba in a competitive carrier selection proceeding to 

determine which carrier(s) should be entitled to use the authority at issue.4

(f) The authority granted here is specifically conditioned so that neither Delta, Mesaba, 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.

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

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

INITIAL LIST OF CODE-SHARE POINTS