Before the Department of Transportation Washington, D.C
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BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C. _______________________________________________ ) Application of ) ) ) TATA SIA AIRLINES LIMITED (TSAL) ) Docket DOT-OST-2021-______ d/b/a VISTARA ) ) for a Foreign Air Carrier Permit ) pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 41302 and for an ) exemption pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 ) _______________________________________________) APPLICATION OF TATA SIA AIRLINES LIMITED (TSAL) d/b/a VISTARA Communications with respect to this document should be sent to: Anita M. Mosner Benjamin T. Slocum Marina V. O’Brien Holland & Knight LLP 800 17th Street, N.W., Suite 1100 Washington, DC 20006 T: (202) 419-2604 Email: [email protected] Counsel for Vistara DATED: April 28, 2021 NOTICE: Any person may file an answer to this Application. The Applicant is requesting expedited relief from the Department on this request and will poll all interested parties. BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C. _______________________________________________ ) Application of ) ) ) TATA SIA AIRLINES LIMITED (TSAL) ) d/b/a VISTARA ) ) for a Foreign Air Carrier Permit ) pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 41302 and for an ) exemption pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 ) _______________________________________________) APPLICATION OF TATA SIA AIRLINES LIMITED (TSAL) d/b/a VISTARA Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. §§ 40109 and 41302, Part 211 of the Department of Transportation’s Economic Regulations, and the Department’s Rules of Practice, TATA SIA Airlines Limited d/b/a Vistara (“Vistara”), a foreign air carrier of India, hereby applies for an exemption and a Foreign Air Carrier permit to conduct foreign scheduled and charter air transportation of persons, property, and mail as authorized pursuant to the Air Transport Agreement Between The Government Of The United States Of America And The Government Of India, signed on January 15, 2005 (the “U.S.-India Open Skies Agreement”). Vistara hereby invokes the Department’s August 23, 2005 Notice in Docket OST-2005-22228 (the “Streamlined Licensing Procedures Notice”) and requests that this Application be processed and acted on by the Department pursuant to those procedures. Vistara requests expedited processing of this application to allow it to begin the proposed services as soon as possible. In support of this application, Vistara states as follows: 1. Vistara currently holds DOT exemptions which authorize codeshare services with both US and foreign air carriers. Vistara filed extensive fitness information in support of its Application of TATA SIA Airlines Limited d/b/a Vistara Page 2 of 25 application for traffic rights to code-share with United.1 Under that arrangement, in which Vistara was authorized to display the United UA* code on various intra-India services operated by Vistara, DOT expressly found that DOT the carrier was “financially and operationally qualified to provide the services authorized.” DOT also determined that the carrier was properly licensed by its government to provide the proposed services. Nothing has occurred which would in any way alter these findings. Vistara also holds an exemption which enables it to hold out service to the United States by placing its airline designator code on services operated by Singapore Airlines.2 Vistara requests that the Department take official notice of and incorporate by reference the extensive fitness information it already has filed in support of both those applications. 2. Vistara proposes to launch scheduled air transportation between the U.S. and India on or about September 1, 2021, using Boeing B787 aircraft already in its fleet. 3. Vistara seeks authority to operate scheduled air transportation of persons, property, and mail between points on the following routes: • from points behind India via India and intermediate points to a point or points in the United States and beyond; and • for all-cargo service or services, between the United States and any point or points Vistara also seeks authority to provide charter air transportation of persons, property, and mail between any point or points in the territory of India and any point or points in the territory of the United States; and between any point or points in the territory of the United States and any point or points in a third country or countries, provided that, except with respect to cargo charters, such 1 See Docket DOT-OST-2019-0091, Notice of Action Taken dated August 30, 2019, in which Vistara initially applied for traffic rights in conjunction with its code share arrangement with United. In that Application, Vistara supplied detailed information concerning its incorporation and ownership structure, the regulatory oversight of the Government of India, financial relationships with other carriers, and other information required under 14 CFR Part 211. In the Notice of Action Taken, DOT expressly found that the carrier was “financially and operationally qualified to provide the services authorized.” DOT also determined that the carrier was properly licensed by its government to provide the proposed services. 2 DOT-OST-2019-0128, Notice of Action Taken dated October 11, 2019. Application of TATA SIA Airlines Limited d/b/a Vistara Page 3 of 25 service constitutes part of a continuous operation, with or without a change of aircraft, that includes service to India for the purpose of carrying local traffic between India and the territory of the United States.3 4. The authority requested herein is fully consistent with the open skies air transport agreements currently in place between the United States and India, as well as with the public interest.4 Granting this application is in the public interest because it will provide substantial consumer benefits by enhancing the service options available to the U.S. traveling public for travel between the U.S. and India. 5. Vistara has been properly authorized by its regulator to perform the services proposed herein. A copy of Vistara’s current Air Operator’s Certificate is attached as Attachment 1, hereto. 6. Vistara is jointly owned by TATA Sons Private (Ltd) (51%) and by Singapore Airlines (SIA) Ltd. (49%). Vistara’s ownership structure is unchanged since its initial fitness filing in Docket DOT-OST-2019-0091. 7. A list of Vistara’s current Directors and Senior Managers is attached as Attachment 2. 8. Vistara operates a fleet of 47 aircraft. A breakdown of the fleet can be found below. Sr. No. Aircraft Type Fleet Size Seats 1 Airbus A320ceo 9 164 2 Airbus A320neo 28 164 / 158 / 180 3 Boeing B737-800 6 168 4 Boeing B787-9 2 299 5 Airbus A321neo 2 188 Total Aircraft (Till 13th Apr 2021) 47 3 Vistara also requests authority to operate other charters as authorized under Part 212 of the DOT’s Economic Regulations. 4 See Air Transport Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of India, Art. 8, Para. 7 (Jan. 15, 2005). Application of TATA SIA Airlines Limited d/b/a Vistara Page 4 of 25 9. Vistara has had no fatal incidents or accidents, nor any tariff violations, in the past five years. 10. A copy of Vistara’s Passenger Manifest Collection Plan is set forth in Attachment 3, and a copy of Vistara’s Passenger Support Plan is set forth in Attachment 4. 11. Updated copies of Vistara’s Insurance Certificate (OST Form 6401) and Warsaw Convention Liability Waiver Form (OST Form 4523) are set forth in Attachment 5. 12. A Verification of the facts set forth in this Application can be found at Attachment 6. 13. Vistara’s annual fuel consumption will not exceed 10 million gallons per year. Thus, a grant of the permit application will not constitute a "major regulatory action" within the meaning of Section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act as implemented by 14 C.F.R. § 313.4. WHEREFORE, TATA SIA Airlines Limited d/b/a Vistara respectfully requests that the Department of Transportation promptly grant Vistara an exemption and foreign air carrier permit so that it can operate direct air transport services between the United States and India.5 The carrier further requests that the Department grant such other relief as the Department may deem necessary and appropriate. Respectfully submitted, Anita M Mosner Anita M. Mosner Benjamin T. Slocum Marina O’ Brien HOLLAND & KNIGHT LLP Counsel for TATA SIA AIRLINES LIMITED (TSAL) d/b/a VISTARA 5 Approval of this application would authorize not only the own-aircraft services noted in paragraph 2, but also the code sharing services that Vistara currently offers in conjunction with United and SIA, eliminating the need to seek repeated renewals of those authorizations. Attachment 1 Vistara’s Air Operator’s Certificate Attachment 2 Directors and Senior Managers List of Directors of TATA SIA Airlines Limited Director Name Nationality 1. Mr. Bhaskar Bhat India 2. Mr. Sankaranarayanan Padmanabhan India 3. Mr. Lik Hsin Lee Singapore 4. Mr. Som Mittal India 5. Ms. Sangeeta Pendurkar India List of Senior Managers of TATA SIA Airlines Limited Senior Manager Name Title Nationality Mr. Leslie Thng Kan Chung Chief Executive Officer Singapore Mr. Niyant Maru Chief Financial Officer Indian Mr. Vinod Bhat Chief Information Officer Indian Mr. Vinod Kannan Chief Commercial Officer Indian Mr. Nam Kung Sia Senior Vice President – Ground Singapore Services & Projects Ms. Deepa Chadha Senior Vice President – Human Indian Resources & Corporate Affairs Mr. Hamish Maxwell Senior Vice President – Flight Australia Operations Mr. Sisira Kanta Dash Senior Vice President – Indian Engineering Mr. Gurjot Singh Malhi Advisor to CEO (SVP) & Chief Indian Ethics Counsellor Attachment 3 Summary of Passenger Manifest Information Collection Plan TATA SIA Airlines Limited d/b/a Vistara Summary of Passenger Manifest Information Collection Plan Pursuant to 14 C.F.R. § 243.13, following is a summary of TATA SIA Airlines Limited d/b/a Vistara (“Vistara”) plan to collect the required passenger manifest information from passengers on all flight segments operated by Vistara to or from the United States and to transmit that information to the U.S.