July 26, 2010

John M. Allen Director, Flight Standards Service

Federal Aviation Administration PETITION FOR EXEMPTION 800 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20591

Dear Mr. Allen:

Pursuant to section 11.61 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 C.F.R.), JetBlue Airways Corporation (“JetBlue”), a Part 121-certif icated air carrier, pet itions the Administrator for an exemption from 14 C.F.R. § 119.3 to the extent necessary to pe rmit JetBlue to operate flights between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico as domestic operations rather than flag operations.

Impacted Sections of the FAR :

Section § 119.3, Definition of “Domestic Operation” r eads in pertinent part:

Domestic operation means any scheduled operation conducted by any person operating any airplane described in paragr aph (1) of this definition at locations described in paragraph (2) of this definition:

(1) Airplanes:

(i) Turbojet-powered airplanes;

(ii) Airplanes having a passenger-seat c onfiguration of more than 9 passenger seats, excluding each crewmember seat; or

(iii) Airplanes having a payload capacity of more than 7,500 pounds.

(2) Locations:

(i) Between any points within the 48 conti guous States of the United States or the District of Columbia; or

(ii) Operations solely within the 48 con tiguous States of the United States or the District of Columbia; or

(iii) Operations entirely within any Stat e, territory, or possession of the United States; orFederal Aviation Administration July 26, 2010 Page 2 of 5

(iv) When specifically authorized by the Administrator, operations between any point within the 48 contiguous States of the United States or the District of Columbia and any specifically auth orized point located outside the 48 contiguous States of the United St ates or the District of Columbia.

(Emphasis added).

Relief Requested :

JetBlue requests relief from section 119.3, Definition of Domestic Operation, to allow the Administrator authority to permit JetBlue to operate flights between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic (which currently are operated under the rules applicable to flag operations) under the rules applicable to domestic operations.

Discussion :

JetBlue is a major carrier operating throughout the continental United States and the Caribbean. JetBlue operates six hundred and fifty (650) flights per day with a fleet of Airbus A320 and Embraer E190 aircraft serving sixty one (61) destinations. Pursuant to the definition of “Domestic Operation” set fo rth in section 119.3, JetBlue’s flights between the contiguous

States of the United States and Puerto Rico a nd flights between the contiguous States of the United States and the Dominican Republic current ly operate under the rules applicable to domestic operations, as permitted under section A012 of JetBlue’s Operations Specifications. JetBlue’s flights between Puerto Rico and th e Dominican Republic, however, currently operate under the rules applicable to flag operations. Th is classification is because of the definition applicable to that routing and not because of the international nature of or long stage length associated with the routing – characteristic s usually associated with flag operations.

Specifically, section 119.3 currently allows the Administrator the flex ibility to determine whether a routing outside the continental United States must be conducted under “domestic” or “flag” rules. Section 119.3(b)(iv) defines a “ domestic operation” as it applies to operations outside the contiguous 48 Stat es to include “(iv) [w]hen specifically authorized by the Administrator, operations between any point within the 48 contiguous States of the United States or the District of Columbia and any specifica lly authorized point located outside the 48 contiguous States of the United States or the Di strict of Columbia.” While flights from the contiguous United States to the Dominican Republic have been authorized by the Administrator, JetBlue’s flights between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are not eligible for the

Administrator to exercise his discretion to al low those operation as “domestic” because Puerto Rico is a possession of the United States. JetB lue believes this is a consequence of an unintended drafting anomaly. JetBlue seeks an exemption to the definition of “domestic operation” that would effectively add “or Puerto Rico” in subsection (iv) after “District of Columbia,” thereby permitting JetBlue, with the Administrator’s approval, to operate flights between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic as “domestic.”Federal Aviation Administration July 26, 2010 Page 3 of 5

With the requested change section (iv) would read as follows:

“(iv) [w]hen specifically authorized by the Administrator, operations between any point within the 48 contiguous States of the United States, the District of Columbia or Puerto Rico and any specifically authorized point located outside the 48 contiguous States of the United States,

the District of Columbia or Puerto Rico.”

The rules applicable to fl ag operations are intended fo r long haul carriers, where crewmembers are frequently scheduled for more than eight (8) hours of flight during a twenty four (24) hour period due to the na ture and route structure of the ai rline. By contrast, the nature of JetBlue’s operations, route st ructure and stage lengths are su ch that its operations between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic (whi ch currently are opera ted under the rules applicable to flag operations) are actually sh orter in duration than its flights between the contiguous States of the United States and both Puerto Rico a nd the Dominican Republic (which are operated under the rules app licable to domestic operations). Indeed, JetBlue’s flights between the contiguous States of the United States and destinations outside the United States are often over 3 hours in duration, while JetBlue’s fl ights between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are only one hour in duration with an actu al flight time of less than one hour. JetBlue’s operations from within the contiguous United States to Puerto Rico are over 4 hours in length. It is JetBlue’s belief that these short flights be tween Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic simply are not the intended target of the rules a pplicable to flag operations, and therefore JetBlue petitions the Administrator to amend the de finition of domestic operation to permit the

Administrator to have the discreti on to allow flights on this route to be operated pursuant to the rules applicable to domestic operations. Such fl exibility would rationalize the flight operations of a carrier such as JetBlue, potentially elimin ating the present anomalous situation of a short duration flight operating under flag rules and other much longer flights to the same destination operating under domestic rules.

Safety Will Not Be Impacted :

Granting this exemption would not adversely a ffect safety and would provide more than an equivalent level of safety. In fact, JetBlue strongly believ es that granting this exemption would increase safety by providing consistency in the rules that a pply in this theatre of operation and avoiding confusion in constantly transiti oning between domestic and flag operations in flights to the Caribbean. Moreove r, the flights operated by JetBlu e between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are not material ly different than the flights it operated within the contiguous States of the United States, or between the contiguous States of the United States and

destinations in the Caribbean. And there is no question that the domestic operations rules provide for consistent, safe operations in the ar eas in which it applies. Here, permitting the application of domestic operations rules to Je tBlue’s flights between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic will provide for safe operati ons in an area (the Caribbean) that is not substantially different than JetBlu e’s flights that are operated with in the contiguous States of the

Unites States.Federal Aviation Administration July 26, 2010 Page 4 of 5

Public Interest :

Granting this exemption would be in th e public interest in the following ways:

1. Under the rest requirements applicable to flag operations, a pilot may be repeatedly

scheduled for as little as 8 hours of rest without any compensatory rest requirement, provided that flying does not exceed 8 hours in any 24-hour period. By contrast, under the rest requirements a pplicable to domestic operations , if a pilot receives less than 9 hours of rest, compensatory rest must be provided. Thus, by granting this exemption, pilots who conduct JetBlue’s flights between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic will become eligible for compensatory re st under the domestic operations rules.

2. Under domestic rules, JetBlue is required to designate what the industry refers to as “reserve availability periods” for pilots assigned to reserve duty. This scheduling requirement establishes defined rest periods for reserve pilots. No such requirement exists for JetBlue’s operations under flag rules. By granting this exemption, the “reserve availability periods” will apply to JetBlue’s flights between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, thereby increasing the defined rest periods for JetBlue’s pilots who conduct flights on that route.

3. Under domestic rules, a duty day is limited to 16 hours. No such limitation exists under flag rules. In addition, under flag rule s, duty days may be extended for reasons beyond JetBlue’s control, such as maintena nce or weather delays. Granting this exemption would make the duty day limita tion set forth in the domestic rules applicable to JetBlue’s flights between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, thereby providing an additional restriction for JetBlue where its pilots typically fly several legs during one duty period.

4. JetBlue’s flights between Puerto Rico a nd the Dominican Republic are substantively identical to its flights under domestic rules. Despite Puerto Rico’s status as a U.S. territory (similar to the District of Columbia, to which the domestic rules apply),

because of the inter-island nature of this route, different operating requirements apply. Here, permitting JetBlue to operate its flights between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic under a set of rules that are consistent with its other operations to the Caribbean (from the contiguous St ates of the United States) would ensure consistency in JetBlue’s operations in this area.

5. JetBlue’s flights between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic would not adversely affect safety, because the amount of fuel required for flights between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Repub lic, when calculated using both the requirements of flag operations and domestic operations, re sults in a different of less than two hundred pounds. A ccordingly, granting this exemption so that the fuel requirements for domestic operations applies to JetBlue’s flights between Puerto RicoFederal Aviation Administration July 26, 2010 Page 5 of 5

and the Dominican Republic would not resu lt in any substantial difference in the amount of fuel carried on those flights.

Summary of Petition of Pub lication in Federal Register :

Pursuant to FAR 11.81(f), a summary of this petition is set forth immediately below:

SUMMARY

JetBlue Airways Corporation Petition for an Exemption to FAR § 119.3.

“JetBlue Airways Corporation petitions for an exemption from Sections 119.3 to allow the Administrator the discretion to permit air carri ers to operate flights be tween Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic under the rules applicable to domestic operations.”

Thank you for your prompt attention to this ma tter. If you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesita te to contact me at (718) 709-2264.

Respectfully submitted,

Joseph D. DeVito Manager Flight Standards Compliance JetBlue Airways Corporation 118-29 Queens Blvd Forest Hills, NY 11375 Tel.: (718) 709-2264 Fax: (718) 709-2280 Email: Joseph.Devito@jetblue.com