Source: https://www.cooley.com/services/industry/aviation-manned-unmanned
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 17:51:55+00:00

Document:
With over 40 years of experience in the aviation community, our lawyers have a regulatory and business law practice providing counseling within the industry while offering a range of legal services to our clients, including M&A, corporate antitrust matters, aircraft acquisitions, commercial contract preparation and negotiation, tax advice and audits, internal and governmental investigations and litigation.
Our lawyers are actively involved with industry trade associations, such as the Airlines for America (formerly Air Transport Association), the National Business Aviation Association and the National Air Carriers Association.
Drawing on its antitrust and litigation lawyers, Cooley has participated in airline merger cases and offered ongoing counsel in antitrust regulation.
Assisting a company jointly owned by several airlines with the requisite sensitivity to the Department of Transportation, the Department of Justice and European Union jurisdiction, not only in the antitrust area, but also with respect to general business issues as well as tariff rules and regulations.
Aiding a recipient of a criminal grand jury subpoena in the DOJ’s air cargo price-fixing investigation.
Advising clients in connection with both civil merger and nonmerger investigations by the DOJ’s Antitrust Division.
Slot allocation proceedings and slot auction proceedings before the DOT.
In addition to advising aircraft owners in standard corporate and commercial matters, we assist airlines in a broad range of commercial arrangements unique to the airline industry, such as flying agreements between regional and major airlines, ground handling agreements, maintenance agreements for aircraft, engines and parts, supply agreements and software and other intellectual property development and licensing arrangements. Our clients also include both buyers and sellers of aircraft, engines and parts, as well as owners seeking to finance their aircraft through traditional operating leases, leveraged leases and other financing structures.
Our lawyers assist clients with purchase negotiations, sale and leasing of aircraft and the financing of air carriers, as well as the purchase and sale of air carriers (Part 121, Part 135 and Part 145). Cooley advises major and regional air carriers from their inception, including structuring and financing. We also offer business counseling in all phases of the aviation industry, including review of proposed mergers and acquisitions.
Cooley’s litigation department is fully integrated with the aviation practice. Our lawyers advise clients across the country in private disputes between air carriers and aviation companies in state courts, federal courts and commercial arbitrations, as well as litigation arising from administrative proceedings at the Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.
Alitalia Linee Aeree Italiane v. Airline Tariff Publishing, 580 F.Supp.2d 285 (S.D.N.Y. 2008): Advised major company that publishes airline tariffs in suit challenging critical contract clause on limitation of liability and seeking damages; obtained summary judgment on interpretation of contract.
World Jet Trading v. JCDE (Arbitration 2007): Arbitrated return of escrow deposit under aircraft sales contract after potential buyer's rejection of aircraft.
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey v. FAA, No. 08-1262 (D.C. Cir. 2008): Assisted intervenor JetBlue in industry petition to review FAA order purporting to implement slot auction at New York airports; D.C. Circuit issued stay of implementation of slot auction rule, which FAA eventually withdrew.
Southwest Airlines v. TSA, 554 F.3d 1065 (D.C. Cir. 2009): Successfully aided Hawaiian Airlines in industry appeal of increase in aviation security infrastructure fees.
FAA v. Hawaiian Airlines, FAA-2009-0578 (2009): Successfully defended Hawaiian Airlines in enforcement action regarding maintenance problem on flights; after extensive discovery, FAA agreed to dismiss the entire action with prejudice.
Hawaiian Airlines v. American Samoa, DOT-OST-2006-25612 (Apr. 2, 2007): Sought and received declaratory order from the Department of Transportation ruling that the governor of American Samoa could not bar Hawaiian Airlines from serving the island territory.
United States v. Airline Tariff Publishing, Civil Action No: 92 2854 (D.D.C. 1993): Defended Airline Tariff Publishing Company in lawsuit brought by the US Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division against the client and six airlines alleging that air carriers used ATPCO's price-publishing systems to engage in anti-competitive signaling in violation of the Sherman Act; also represented ATPCO in 42 class action treble-damage suits following the government suit.
Cooley advises clients on a wide variety of aviation tax matters, including taxable fringe benefits under standard industry fare level, or SIFL, rules; qualification for reduced SIFL rates due to business-oriented security concerns; business expense deductions; limits on deductions for personal use; entertainment expense deduction limits; foreign travel deduction limits; spousal travel deduction limits; depreciation lives and methods; tax recordkeeping and reporting; federal transportation excise taxes; passive loss limitations; partnership and S corporation taxation; like-kind exchanges; state sales and use taxes; and securities law disclosures.
Our lawyers have experience with transactions and business arrangements pertaining to leases qualifying for resale exceptions for state sales and use tax purposes, "synthetic" leases, air charter arrangements, aircraft management agreements, time-sharing agreements, joint ownership arrangements, fractional ownership arrangements, management services agreements, like-kind exchanges and "reverse" like-kind exchanges.
We frequently publish articles, present at conferences and prepare commentary for the Internal Revenue Service on behalf of the National Business Aviation Association.

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