January 19, 2021

The Honorable Joel Szabat Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Ave., S.E. Washington, DC 20590

Re: Request for an Extension to the Department’s Order Granting Temporary Waivers (Order OST-2020-9-26; Docket DOT-OST-2020-0035)

Dear Mr. Szabat:

Airlines for America (“A4A”), on behalf of its Members,1 respectfully requests that the U.S. Department of Transportation (“Department”) extend its September 25, 2020 Order Granting Temporary Waivers (“September Order”)2 through the IATA summer 2021 season until October 30, 2021. An extension is necessary and justified because international flight operations remain reduced at unprecedented levels during the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. An extension is in the public interest for the same reasons for which the Department granted the temporary waivers in the September Order, as well as new developments in the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The September Order granted all U.S. carriers that hold limited-entry international route authority with waivers of the startup and dormancy conditions applicable to their authorities through March 27, 2021, subject to certain conditions, based upon the Department’s belief that, in the COVID-19 pandemic environment, carriers should not be obligated to reach decisions on restoring reduced operations to avoid the “use-it-or-lose-it” constraints associated with a startup or dormancy condition of such services.3 In fact, the September Order recognizes that “it is in the public interest to afford carriers flexibility to begin or resume their international services as market conditions warrant, without risk that they will lose their route or frequency awards for nonuse.”4

Since the September Order, international air travel has remained extraordinarily depressed. In December, U.S. government data show that passenger volume had fallen more than 90% in 12 of the 25 largest December 2019 U.S.-international country pairs. For the week ending January 10, 2021, A4A Members carried 63% fewer passengers internationally year- over-year on 42% fewer flights. The deepest year-over-year declines in demand continue to be

1 See 14 C.F.R. § 302.10(c). A4A’s members are: , Inc.; American Group, Inc.; Worldwide Holdings, Inc.; , Inc.; FedEx Corp.; ; JetBlue Airways Corp.; Co.; , Inc.; and Co. Air Canada is an associate member. 2 DOT, Order Granting Temporary Waivers (September 25, 2020) (Docket OST-2020-0035). 3 See id. at 1. 4 Id. at 2.

1275 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Suite 1300, Washington, DC 20004 T: 202.626.4000 E: [email protected] W: airlines.org

A4A Request for a Waiver of Dormancy Conditions January 19, 2021 Page 2 of 3 in transpacific (down 93%), transborder Canada (down 90%) and transatlantic (down 84%) markets. In line with these reductions, U.S. passenger airlines entered 2021 operating 1,109 (19%) fewer aircraft than a year earlier. Airlines do not foresee significant international passenger growth before expiration of the existing September Order on March 27, 2021 or during the summer 2021 season.

Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on operations and air travel, including in many foreign jurisdictions (e.g., China, Cuba, Ecuador, Hong Kong, Russia, South Africa, Tokyo Haneda and Vietnam) that have imposed restrictions that limit or impede, in part or in total, our Member’s ability to operate limited-entry frequencies. Foreign and U.S. Government entry restrictions on certain nationalities suppress demand and prevent our Members from being able to operate their limited-entry frequencies. Notably Japan, with few exceptions, does not allow U.S. nationals to enter its country and, therefore, our Members have been unable to start or continue operations for their Haneda slot allocations with any duration.

Additionally, countries have imposed COVID-19 health regulations, which are inconsistent, complex, and challenging for travelers, including over-burdensome and sometimes repetitive health procedures. A person who is authorized to travel must accept some or all of the following conditions to travel to the countries listed in the September Order:

• Obtain a negative COVID-19 test result within a limited number of days or hours prior to departure, which continues to be a challenge given the complexities of U.S. testing infrastructure, the type of tests available in the United States and abroad, and often lengthy response times for test results (some countries now are requiring both PCR testing within a set period before departure and antigen testing within 4 hours before boarding); • Be subject to COVID-19 testing upon arrival; • Be subject to an employer’s health maintenance program; • Quarantine at the destination for up to 21 days, at the traveler’s expense, despite predeparture and on arrival testing regimes in many jurisdictions; • Uncertainty concerning a foreign jurisdiction’s medical and hospital system, if the traveler tests positive upon arrival; • Participate in health management tracking up to 14 days prior to departure and/or consent to health declarations as conditions of entry; and • Undergo multiple temperature screenings during travel.

The practical impact of such conditions is the travelers’ reduced ability and/or willingness to travel to international destinations, further depressing demand. All these impediments taken together underpin the need for an extension to the September Order because these rules make it economically challenging, if not impossible, to operate all limited-entry route rights in question. We anticipate these health regulations will continue for a portion or all the summer 2021 season. In sum, the market conditions on which the Department based its September Order remain, or have worsened, and are expected to continue well-beyond March.

Concurrently, like the Department, we recognize the importance of airline competition, particularly in restricted markets. To that end, we support the Department applying the same conditions in the September Order to an extension through the summer 2021 season.

A4A Request for a Waiver of Dormancy Conditions January 19, 2021 Page 3 of 3 We also submit that a blanket waiver would reduce the burdens on our Members, which already have their limited resources stretched to the breaking point during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the Department. Specifically, an extension would avoid the need for airlines to submit waiver requests for individual authorities and the Department’s adjudication of many requests with the same basis and public interest.

We thank you for the consideration of our request and respectfully submit that an extension of the September Order would serve the public interest, is necessary for the recovery of the U.S. airline industry and is justified by the ongoing market conditions resulting from COVID-19.

If you have any questions, please contact Keith Glatz at [email protected].

Respectfully submitted,

Keith Glatz Vice President, International Affairs AIRLINES FOR AMERICA CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

A copy of the foregoing document has been served this 19th day of January 2021, upon the following persons via email:

Air Carrier Name Email Address Alaska David Heffernan [email protected] Alaska Jeremy Ross [email protected] Alaska Kate Geldaker [email protected] Alaska Megan Lawrence [email protected] American Robert Wirick [email protected] American John Williams [email protected] American Molly Wilkinson [email protected] Atlas Naveen Rao [email protected] Delta Alex Krulic [email protected] Delta Julie Oettinger [email protected] Delta Chris Walker [email protected] Delta Robert Letteney [email protected] Delta Sametta Barnett [email protected] Delta Scott McClain [email protected] Delta Seiden, Steven [email protected] FedEx Anne Bechdolt [email protected] FedEx Brian Hedberg [email protected] FedEx Sandra Lunsford [email protected] Frontier Howard Diamond [email protected] Hawaiian Parker Erkmann [email protected] Hawaiian Margaret Cumisky [email protected] Hawaiian Mark Arimoto [email protected] JetBlue Robert Land [email protected] JetBlue Reese Davidson reese.davidson@.com JetBlue Evelyn Sahr [email protected] JetBlue Drew Derco [email protected] Polar Air Cargo Kevin Montgomery [email protected] SkyWest Todd Emerson [email protected] Southwest Leslie Abbott [email protected] Spirit Airlines David Kirstein [email protected] Spirit Airlines Joanne Young [email protected] Sun Country Hailey Passer [email protected] Sun Country Thomas Ting [email protected] United Dan Weiss [email protected] United Steve Morrissey [email protected] United Amna Arshad [email protected] UPS Dontai Smalls [email protected] UPS Michael Francesconi [email protected] UPS Scott Casey [email protected]

ACI Matt Cornelius [email protected] ALPA Sascha van der Bellen [email protected] ALPA David Semanchik [email protected] NACA Paul Doell [email protected] NACA George Novak (NACA) [email protected] RAA Faye Black [email protected]

DOT Ben Taylor [email protected] DOT Robert Finamore [email protected] DOT Brett Kruger [email protected] DOT Darren Jaffe [email protected] DOS Dave Williams [email protected] INFO Info [email protected]

Aaron Goerlich [email protected] Anita Mosner [email protected] Barbara Marrin [email protected] Bill Callaway [email protected]

Bob Cohn [email protected] Bob Silverberg [email protected] Charles Donley [email protected] Charles Simpson [email protected] David M. Endersbee [email protected] Don Hainbach [email protected] Ed Sauer [email protected] Eileen Gleimer [email protected] Gary Garofalo [email protected] Glenn Wicks [email protected] Jason Maddux [email protected] Jeff Johnson [email protected] Jennifer Trock [email protected] Joan Canny [email protected] John Fredericksen [email protected] John Mietus [email protected] John Richardson [email protected] Jol Silversmith [email protected] Jonathan Blank [email protected] Jonathan Echmalian [email protected] Josh Romanow [email protected] Kent Jackson [email protected] Kyle Levine [email protected] Lonnie A. Pera [email protected] Malcolm Benge [email protected] Mark Atwood [email protected] Mike Goldman [email protected] Moffett Roller [email protected] Pat Rizzi [email protected] Rachel B. Trinder [email protected] Robert Foster [email protected] Stephen Lachter [email protected] Stephen Alterman [email protected] Ted Ellett [email protected] Yvette Rose [email protected]

/s/ Cecilia Bethke