Document ID: DOT-OST-2003-14202-0004
Agency: dot
Document Type: Notice
Title: Notice Providing Access to Documents
Posted Date: 2003-01-21T05:00Z

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA  

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION  

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY  

WASHINGTON, D.C.  

Joint Application of Asiana Airlines, Inc. and United Air Lines, Inc. 

for Approval of and Antitrust Immunity for an Alliance Agreement

under 49 U.S.C. §§ 41308 and 41309 (Docket OST-2003-14202)

NOTICE PROVIDING ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS 

On January 3, 2003, Asiana Airlines, Inc. (“Asiana”), United Air
Lines, Inc. (“United”), and their respective affiliates
(collectively, the “Joint Applicants”) filed for approval of, and
antitrust immunity for, an alliance agreement between Asiana and United
(the “Alliance Expansion Agreement”).  Asiana and United each filed
a motion under 14 C.F.R. 302.12 (Rule 12) of our regulations seeking
confidential treatment for supporting documents.  Both applicants
maintain that these documents contain confidential, proprietary and
commercially sensitive information that qualifies for being withheld
from public disclosure.  Asiana and United ask that access to these
documents be limited to counsel and outside experts for interested
parties.  

As an initial matter, in order to afford interested parties prompt
access to the documents under conditions agreed to by the applicants and
imposed by the Department under similar recent circumstances, we will
grant immediate interim access to all documents covered by the Rule 12
Motions to counsel and outside experts for interested parties who file
appropriate affidavits with the Department in advance.  Moreover,
consistent with earlier determinations, at the Dockets facility, Parties
will be permitted to make copies of the documents for use by persons who
have filed confidentiality affidavits.  We also find it appropriate to
grant interim access to any subsequent materials that may be filed in
this case under a Rule 12 Motion to counsel and outside experts for
interested parties who file appropriate affidavits with the Department
in advance, unless the party filing the motion objects.  

We expect all affidavits to state, at a minimum, that (1) the affiant is
counsel for an interested party or an outside independent expert
providing services to such a party; (2) the affiant will use the
information only for the purpose of participating in this proceeding;
and (3) the affiant will disclose such information only to other persons
who have filed a valid affidavit in Docket OST-2003-14202.  Affiants
and interested parties must understand and agree that any pleading or
other filing that includes or discusses information contained in the
covered documents must itself be accompanied by a Rule 12 motion
requesting confidential treatment.  Affidavits must be filed in
Docket OST-2003-14202 with the Department of Transportation, Dockets,
Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C., 20590.  

Affiants having filed affidavits may examine the documents at the
Department of Transportation at the Dockets location.  Affiants must
present a stamped copy of the affidavit filed with the Department of
Transportation before examination of the documents.  Immediately after
the completion of any judicial review of our final decision in this
docket or the expiration of the 60-day period within which a person may
petition for judicial review, all persons who have filed confidentiality
affidavits in this proceeding are hereby directed to file a further
affidavit stating that all copies of the applicants’ confidential
materials have been destroyed or returned to the applicants.  

Finally, when we have determined that the record of this case is
complete, we will announce an appropriate procedural schedule.  

We shall serve this notice on all persons on the service list for this
docket.  

By:

READ C. VAN DE WATER  

Assistant Secretary for Aviation

and International Affairs  

Date: January 21, 2003

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide
Web at:  

http://dms.dot.gov/search  

	For purposes of this application, the term “Alliance Expansion
Agreement” includes the following: (1) Alliance Expansion Agreement by
and between Asiana and United executed on December 23, 2002, and
attached as Exhibit JA-1; (2) the Asiana/United Marketing Cooperation
Agreement executed on August 27, 2002, and attached as exhibit JA-2;
(3) the Asiana/United Code Share and Regulatory Cooperation Agreement
executed on August 27, 2002, attached as Exhibit JA-3, and filed with
the Department on September 9, 2002, (Docket OST-2002-13320); (4) the
International Passenger Prorate Agreement between United and Asiana
effective December 1, 2002, and attached as Exhibit JA-4; (5) any
implementing agreements in furtherance of the foregoing agreements; and
(6) any transaction undertaken pursuant to the foregoing agreements.  

	See Motions at 3.  Answers to the motions are due on January 14.  We
will rule on the merits of the Rule 12 Motions by subsequent order.  

	See Notices in Dockets OST-2002-11842 dated March 21, 2002, and
OST-2001-10429 dated August 21, 2001.  

	See Notice dated March 21, 2002, p 1, Docket OST-2002-11842
(Delta-KAL-Air France-Alitalia-CSA request for approval of and antitrust
immunity for Alliance Agreements); and see Notice dated September 11,
2001, Docket OST-2001-10387 (American Airlines-British Airways request
for approval of and antitrust immunity for an Alliance Agreement).  

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Served: January 21, 2003