[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 204 (Tuesday, October 22, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64960-64961]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-26973]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary


Review Under 49 U.S.C. 41720 of Delta/Northwest/Continental 
Agreements

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Extension of waiting period.

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SUMMARY: Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, and Continental Airlines 
have submitted code-sharing and frequent-flyer program reciprocity 
agreements to the Department for review under 49 U.S.C. 41720. That 
statute requires such agreements between major U.S. passenger airlines 
to be submitted to the Department at least thirty days before the 
agreements' proposed effective date and authorizes the Department to 
extend the waiting period for these agreements at the end of the 
thirty-day period. The Department has determined to extend the waiting 
period for the Delta/Northwest/Continental

[[Page 64961]]

agreements for an additional thirty days, from October 22 to November 
21, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Ray, Office of the General 
Counsel, 400 Seventh St. SW., Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-4731.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Delta, Northwest, and Continental submitted 
code-sharing and frequent-flyer program reciprocity agreements to us 
for review under 49 U.S.C. 41720 on August 23, more than thirty days 
before the airlines planned to implement these agreements. Under that 
statute we may extend the waiting period by 150 days for code-sharing 
agreements and by sixty days for other types of agreements. We have 
already extended the waiting period for these agreements once by thirty 
days. 67 FR 59328 (September 20, 2002).
    We have been informally reviewing the agreements submitted by 
Delta, Continental, and Northwest. We are considering the comments 
submitted by interested parties, the three airlines' agreements, and 
other information in our possession, and we have been consulting with 
the Justice Department, which is responsible for enforcing the 
antitrust laws in the airline industry. Several carriers recently 
jointly asked the Department to extend the waiting period for the code-
share agreement for the full 150-day period permitted by law and grant 
their request for a more extensive production of evidence from Delta, 
Continental, and Northwest. That request, received in writing late in 
the day on October 15, 2002, was made by Air Tran Airways, America West 
Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Midwest Express Airlines, 
Southwest Airlines, and Spirit Airlines.
    We have again determined that we need more time for our analysis of 
the issues presented by the Delta/Continental/Northwest joint venture 
agreements. Those issues are important and require careful 
consideration. We have therefore determined to extend the waiting 
period by another thirty days, from October 22 to November 21. We took 
similar action on the United/US Airways joint venture agreements. 67 FR 
59328 (September 20, 2002). We will also consider the joint request 
made by several carriers to further extend the waiting period for the 
proposed code-share agreement and for additional evidence and will deal 
with it separately.
    We intend to complete our review as promptly as possible, so that 
the three airlines will know our views on whether and under what terms 
they may go forward with the agreements.

    Issued in Washington, DC on October 18, 2002.
Read C. Van de Water,
Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 02-26973 Filed 10-21-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-62-P