Application of ) ) HARBOUR AIR LTD
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, DC ___________________________________________ ) Application of ) ) HARBOUR AIR LTD. ) Docket DOT-OST-2021- d/b/a HARBOUR AIR SEAPLANES, ) WHISTLER AIR AND SALTSPRING AIR ) ) for a foreign air carrier permit pursuant to ) 49 U.S.C. § 41301 and for exemption authority ) pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 ) (U.S.-Canada Open Skies) ) ___________________________________________) APPLICATION OF HARBOUR AIR LTD. d/b/a HARBOUR AIR SEAPLANES, WHISTLER AIR AND SALTSPRING AIR FOR A FOREIGN AIR CARRIER PERMIT AND AN EXEMPTION Communications with respect to this document should be addressed to: Eric Scott David Heffernan Vice President, Flight Operations Kathryn Sobotta and Safety COZEN O’CONNOR HARBOUR AIR LTD. 1200 19th Street, NW 4760 Inglis Drive Washington, DC 20036 Richmond Telephone: (202) 912-4800 British Columbia [email protected] Canada V7B 1W4 [email protected] Counsel for HARBOUR AIR LTD. February 23, 2021 BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, DC ___________________________________________ ) Application of ) ) HARBOUR AIR LTD. ) Docket DOT-OST-2021- d/b/a HARBOUR AIR SEAPLANES, ) WHISTLER AIR AND SALTSPRING AIR ) ) for a foreign air carrier permit pursuant to ) 49 U.S.C. § 41301 and for exemption authority ) pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 ) (U.S.-Canada Open Skies) ) ___________________________________________) DATED: February 23, 2021 APPLICATION OF HARBOUR AIR LTD. d/b/a HARBOUR AIR SEAPLANES, WHISTLER AIR AND SALTSPRING AIR FOR A FOREIGN AIR CARRIER PERMIT AND AN EXEMPTION Harbour Air Ltd. (“Harbour Air”), an air carrier of Canada, hereby applies, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. §§ 41301 and 40109, Part 211 of the Department’s Economic Regulations (14 C.F.R. Part 211), Subparts B and C of the Department’s Rules of Practice in Proceedings (14 C.F.R. §§ 302.201 and 302.301, et. seq.), and the Department’s streamlined licensing procedures,1 for a foreign air carrier permit and an exemption authorizing Harbour Air to engage in: (1) scheduled and charter foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail from points behind Canada via Canada and intermediate points to a point or points in the United States and beyond; and (2) scheduled and charter foreign air transportation of property and mail between any point or points in the United States and any other point or points. Harbour Air plans to operate services using 1 Notice In the Matter of Streamlining Regulatory Procedures for Licensing U.S. and Foreign Air Carriers, August 23, 2005 (Docket DOT-OST-2005-22228). Application of Harbour Air Page 2 of 7 the trade names “Harbour Air,” “Harbour Air Seaplanes,” “Whistler Air,” and “Saltspring Air.” The Department previously authorized Tantalus Air Ltd., a Canadian air carrier, to hold out and operate service under the names of Harbour Air and Harbour Air Seaplanes.2 Harbour Air recently underwent a change of ownership. As described in Section 5 below, Harbour Air is now wholly owned and controlled by Canadian citizens. Following this change of ownership, Harbour Air plans to operate to/from the United States under its own authority and thus is seeking DOT authority to do so. In conjunction with Harbour Air’s commencement of U.S. service, Tantalus Air will cease operations. In support of its Application, Harbour Air submits the following information: 1. Harbour Air Ltd. is a corporation organized under the laws of Canada. Its principal place of business is 4760 Inglis Drive; Richmond, BC V7B 1W4, Canada. 2. The air transport authorities having regulatory jurisdiction over Harbour Air are Transport Canada, 330 Sparks Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0N5 and the Canadian Transportation Agency, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0N9. Copies of Harbour Air’s Air Operator Certificate issued by Transport Canada, scheduled and non-scheduled international service licenses issued by the Canadian Transportation Agency are attached as Exhibit A. Harbour Air is authorized by Transport Canada to operate scheduled and charter domestic and international air transportation of passengers and cargo. The carrier’s Air Operator Certificate was reissued on December 19, 2019, for an indefinite duration. 3. Harbour Air requests expedited approval of this application in order to implement its plans to resume scheduled and charter service between Canada and the United 2 Final Order 2018-10-3 (granting a foreign air carrier permit to Tantalus Air Ltd. d/b/a Harbour Air and Harbour Air Seaplanes) (Docket DOT-OST-2018-0049). Application of Harbour Air Page 3 of 7 States. In June 2021, Harbour Air plans to introduce year-round scheduled foreign air transportation of persons and property between Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre (CYHC), Vancouver, Canada, and two U.S. seaplane bases in the Seattle area: Kenmore Lake Union Seaplane Base, Seattle, Washington (W55) and Kenmore Air Harbor Seaplane Base, Kenmore, Washington (S60). No local traffic will be carried between W55 and S60. Harbour Air plans to operate two daily non-stop roundtrip services between Vancouver Harbour and W55 and S60 from July until October and one daily non-stop roundtrip service from November until June of each year. Harbour Air may initiate service on other U.S.-Canadian transborder routes in the future. 4. Harbour Air has an experienced group of key management personnel overseeing its operations and business. A list of the names, titles, addresses, and citizenship of Harbour Air’s key management personnel is attached hereto as Exhibit B. All of the management personnel listed in Exhibit B are citizens of Canada. (Pursuant to 14 C.F.R. § 302.12, Harbour Air is requesting confidential treatment of the personal address information for those individuals listed in Exhibit B.) 5. Harbour Air is privately owned and controlled by Canadian citizens. It is neither wholly owned nor substantially controlled by the Government of Canada. Additional information regarding Harbour Air’s ownership is provided in Exhibit C. 6. Harbour Air’s insurance meets the requirements set forth in 14 C.F.R. Part 205. A copy of Harbour Air’s Certificate of Insurance (OST Form 6411) is attached hereto as Exhibit D. 7. Harbour Air has been licensed by the Government of Canada as a CAR 703/704 Domestic carrier since 1982. At present, Harbour Air is licensed to operate the international Application of Harbour Air Page 4 of 7 scheduled services described herein. 8. A list of Harbour Air’s fleet of aircraft is attached hereto as Exhibit E. Harbour Air currently owns a fleet of DHC2 de Havilland Canada Beaver aircraft and leases several DH3T de Havilland Canada Otter and DHC6 de Havilland Canada Twin Otter aircraft, which it will utilize for the services described herein. 9. Maintenance on Harbour Air's aircraft is provided by Harbour Air Aerospace Services Ltd. at Vancouver International Airport. Harbour Air's maintenance procedures are regulated and approved by Transport Canada and in compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO’s) Pilots and Airmen Annexes 1, 6 (Part 1) and 7. Canada is a contracting state to the Convention on International Civil Aviation. 10. Harbour Air has entered into an interline arrangement with Kenmore Air, a U.S. commuter air carrier based in Seattle, Washington. Harbour Air and Kenmore Air plan to sell seats on flights operated by the two carriers between Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre (CYHC), Vancouver, Canada, on the one hand, and Kenmore Lake Union Seaplane Base, Seattle, Washington (W55) and Kenmore Air Harbor Seaplane Base, Kenmore, Washington (S60). There are currently no other cooperative arrangements or any other agreements in effect between Harbour Air and any U.S. or other foreign air carrier that would apply to the services that Harbour Air proposes in this application. 11. Harbour Air has the financial resources to successfully operate the proposed services. The required financial summaries for the company are attached hereto as Exhibit F. (The financial information provided herein is being filed confidentially under seal, pursuant to 14 C.F.R. § 302.12.) 12. Harbour Air does not receive any financial assistance from its home government Application of Harbour Air Page 5 of 7 except that, during COVID, Harbour Air has received wage subsidy assistance from the Canadian government. The relief is expected to terminate at the conclusion of the pandemic. 13. Forecasted traffic and financial results for the first full year of the proposed operations are attached hereto as Exhibit G. (Pursuant to 14 C.F.R. § 302.12, Harbour Air requests confidential treatment for this information.) 14. The services proposed by Harbour Air are consistent with the Air Transport Agreement between the Government of the United States and the Government of Canada. The U.S.-Canada Open Skies Agreement grants broad rights for both U.S. and Canadian designated air carriers. Harbour Air understands that the competent authorities of Canada would authorize services similar to those requested herein for a U.S. air carrier under the Agreement, including Fifth-Freedom traffic rights, for both scheduled and charter operations. 15. Harbour Air has not been involved in any fatal accidents or safety or tariff violations in the past five years. 16. Harbour Air has executed the Warsaw Convention Liability Waiver (OST Form 4523) attached as Exhibit H. 17. Harbour Air is fit, willing and able to perform the services for which the authority requested herein is sought. Harbour Air will comply with the Department's rules, regulations and applicable statutes, and will accept and comply with the Department's standard terms and conditions imposed on foreign air carrier exemptions and foreign air carrier permits for scheduled and charter air services. WHEREFORE, based upon the foregoing information, Harbour Air respectfully requests that the Department approve this application and issue an exemption and a foreign air carrier permit authorizing the scheduled and charter air transportation of persons and property as more Application of Harbour Air Page 6 of 7 fully described herein.