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DOCKET OST 97-2496

This serves as interim notice to the public of the action described below, taken orally by the Department official indicated; the confirming order or other decision document will be issued as soon as possible.

Applicant: WESTJET AIRLINES, LTD.

Date Filed: May 9, 1997

Relief requested: Exemption from 49 U.S.C. 41301 to conduct scheduled and charter foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail between any point or points in Canada and any point or points in the United States, and other charters, in accordance with 14 CFR Part 212.

If renewal, date and citation of last action: Initial authority

Applicant representative: Jeffrey Manley 202-637-9057

Responsive pleadings: None.

DISPOSITION

Action: Approved

Action date: June 5, 1997

Effective dates of authority granted: June 5, 1997-June 5, 1999

Basis for approval (bilateral agreement/reciprocity): 1995 U.S.-Canada Air Transport Agreement

x Standard exemption conditions (attached)

Special conditions/Partial grant/Denial basis/Remarks: See reverse.

Action taken by:

Paul L. Gretch, Director
Office of International Aviation
under assigned authority (14 CFR 385)

(Petitions for review may be filed from now until 10 days after the service date of the confirming order/letter. Filing of a petition shall not stay the effectiveness of this action.)

We found, based on the record that WestJet was substantially owned and effectively controlled by citizens of Canada. Further, we found that the applicant was operationally qualified, and properly licensed and designated by Canada, to conduct the proposed operations. With its application, WestJet filed a motion under Rule 39 (14 CFR 302.39) requesting that the Department not disclose its financial submissions. No answers were filed to the motion. We found that the carrier demonstrated good cause for granting its motion and we did so. We carefully examined these financial submissions and found that the carrier had sufficient resources to conduct the services at issue here without exposing the traveling and shipping public to financial risk. The authority granted above is subject to the terms, limitations and conditions of the 1995 U.S.-Canada Air Transport Agreement and to the exemption conditions attached to this notice.

CONDITIONS OF AUTHORITY

APPENDIX

In the conduct of the operations authorized, the holder shall:

(1) Not conduct any operations unless it holds a currently effective authorization from its homeland for such operations, and it has filed a copy of such authorization with the Department;

(2) Comply with all applicable requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration, including, but not limited to, 14 CFR Parts 129, 91, and 36;

(3) Comply with the requirements for minimum insurance coverage contained in 14 CFR Part 205, and, prior to the commencement of any operations under this authority, file evidence of such coverage, in the form of a completed OST Form 6411, with the Department's Regulatory Analysis Division, X-57, Office of Aviation Analysis (any changes to, or termination of, insurance also shall be filed with that office);

(4) Not operate aircraft under this authority unless it complies with operational safety requirements at least equivalent to Annex 6 of the Chicago Convention;

(5) Conform to the airworthiness and airman competency requirements of its Government for international air services;

(6) Comply with the requirements of 14 CFR Part 203, concerning waiver of Warsaw Convention liability limits and defenses;

(7) Agree that operations under this authority constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity, for the purposes of 28 U.S.C. 1605(a), but only with respect to those actions or proceedings instituted against it in any court or other tribunal in the United States that are:

(a) based on its operations in international air transportation that, according to the contract of carriage, include a point in the United States as a point of origin, point of destination, or agreed stopping place, or for which the contract of carriage was purchased in the United States; or

(b) based on a claim under any international agreement or treaty cognizable in any court or other tribunal of the United States.

In this condition, the term "international air transportation" means "international transportation" as defined by the Warsaw Convention, except that all States shall be considered to be High Contracting Parties for the purpose of this definition;

(8) Except as specifically authorized by the Department, originate or terminate all flights to/from the United States in its homeland;

(9) Comply with the requirements of 14 CFR Part 217, concerning the reporting of scheduled, nonscheduled, and charter data;

(10) If charter operations are authorized, comply with the Department's rules governing charters (including 14 CFR Parts 212 and 380); and

(11) Comply with such other reasonable terms, conditions, and limitations required by the public interest as may be prescribed by the Department, with all applicable orders or regulations of other U.S. agencies and courts, and with all applicable laws of the United States.

This authority shall not be effective during any period when the holder is not in compliance with the conditions imposed above. Moreover, this authority cannot be sold or otherwise transferred without explicit Department approval under Title 49 of the U.S. Code (formerly the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, as amended).