Document ID: DOT-OST-2003-16404-0003
Agency: dot
Document Type: Notice
Title: Notice of Action Taken re Polynesian Limited
Posted Date: 2003-11-07T05:00Z

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

		        DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

			  OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

			          WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on November 7, 2003

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET OST 2003-16404

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

This serves as notice to the public of the action described below, taken
by the Department official indicated (no additional confirming order
will be issued in this matter).

Applicant:  POLYNESIAN LIMITED                                          
                              Date Filed:  October 24, 2003

Relief requested:  Exemption from 49 U.S.C. section 40109(g) to permit
the applicant to continue to conduct scheduled, combination services
between Pago Pago, American Samoa, and Ofu, American Samoa, and between
Pago Pago and Ta'u, American Samoa, beyond November 8, 2003, through
January 31, 2004, using 19-seat Twin Otter aircraft.  Polynesian
asserted that currently there is no scheduled, inter-island service
being provided by any U.S. carrier, that the need for its American Samoa
services (initially granted by the Department in Docket OST-2003-16163)
remains, and that it is prepared to continue (under its arrangement with
the Government of American Samoa) to provide several flights per week in
the affected markets, and, to the extent possible, add flights during
peak demand periods and for medical emergencies.

Applicant representative:  Charles F. Donley II, 202-626-6840        DOT
analyst:  Allen F. Brown, 202-366-2405

Responsive pleadings:  Polynesian Limited served its application on
those U.S. carriers having the potential to conduct these intra-American
Samoa services.  After polling these carriers, the applicant advised us
that, with the exception of Vision Air, no carrier would file comments
indicating that it had aircraft available to conduct the proposed
operations nor otherwise opposed grant of the requested authority.  On
November 7, Vision Air filed a pleading in which it stated its belief
that the severity of the emergency resulting from Samoa Aviation’s
cessation of service would shortly be alleviated by Vision Air’s
introduction of on-demand air taxi service.  It then went on to state
that nothing in its response “should be construed as a consent to the
extension of the requested emergency exemption beyond January 31,
2004.”

Statutory Standards:  Under 49 U.S.C. section 40109(g), we may authorize
a foreign air carrier to carry commercial traffic between U.S. points
(i.e., cabotage traffic) under limited circumstances.  Specifically, we
must find that the authority is required in the public interest; that
because of an emergency created by unusual circumstances not arising in
the normal course of business the traffic cannot be accommodated by U.S.
carriers holding certificates under 49 U.S.C. section 41102; that all
possible efforts have been made to place the traffic on U.S. carriers;
and that the transportation is necessary to avoid unreasonable hardship
to the traffic involved (an additional required finding, concerning
emergency transportation during labor disputes, was not relevant here).

                                                                        
        DISPOSITION

Action:  Approved in part, remainder deferred (see below).              
                   Action date:  November 7, 2003

Basis for approval:  We initially granted Polynesian Limited authority
to serve American Samoa for a 30-day period on September 23, 2003, in
Docket OST 2003-16163, and, on October 23, 2003, extended the
carrier’s exemption through November 8, 2003.  We now are granting
Polynesian Limited’s request in Docket OST 2003-16404 to continue to
operate its intra-American Samoa services, using its 19-seat Twin Otter
aircraft, for a period of 30 days (that is, through December 8, 2003),
and are deferring action on the remaining portion of Polynesian’s
application in this Docket, i.e., to continue this operation through
January 31, 2004.

In acting favorably on this unopposed request for extension of emergency
cabotage authority, we find that Polynesian Limited’s instant request
continues to meet all the relevant criteria of 49 U.S.C. section
40109(g) for the continued grant of an exemption of this type and that
such favorable action still is required in the public interest.  In
making our initial grant in this matter, on September 23, 2003, we noted
that the severe cutbacks in service in the inter-island American Samoa
markets by Samoa Aviation, the only U.S. carrier that had been serving
the subject markets, clearly 

constituted an emergency created by unusual circumstances not arising in
the normal course of business; that no U.S. appeared able to provide the
level of service necessary to meet the needs of American Samoa, and that
the authority was necessary to prevent undue hardship to the residents
of American Samoa.  Based on the record before us, we find that those
determinations remain valid and again warrant extension of this
authority, this time through December 8, 2003.

Finally, we find that the applicant is qualified to perform its proposed
operation.

Except to the extent exempted/waived, this authority is subject to our
standard exemption conditions.

Action taken by:      Michael W. Reynolds

                                  Acting Assistant Secretary for

                                     Aviation and International Affairs	

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

http://dms.dot.gov//reports/reports_aviation.asp