e

U.S. D e p a r t m e n t
of Transportation
Assistant Secretary DF.PI Oi'" liir.NSPOilTAIION 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
DOCKETS Washington, DC 20590
Office of the Secretary October 5, 2009
of Transportation ^ ,1 ]['}' - 2 A l l - 12

Mr, Mark Fowle

628 Joe Willis Street
Las Vegas, NV 89144-4404

Dear Mr. Fowle:

On behalf of the U.S. Department of Transportation, I am writing to respond to your concerns

about labor protections in the Continental Airlines/ United Air Lines alliance, which you shared in
a letter to Senator Harry Reid.

Continental Airlines, United Air Lines, and other members of the Star Alliance applied for a grant
of antitrust immunity from the Department in July 2008. The Department's review of such a
request is part of a public proceeding in which interested parties have the opportvmity to conmient.
The Department carefully considers all requests for antitrust immunity, beginning with a review of
the record to assess whether there is sufficient information to make a reasoned decision that
satisfies all statutory requirements. Decisions regarding requests for antitrust immunity are made
after consultation with the Department of Justice, and are based upon statutory standards that
include antitrust principles.

As you may be aware, we recently issued afinalorder granting the antitrust immunity requested
by the Star Alliance carriers, subject to conditions designed to preserve competition. The order is
available at http://www.regulations.gov. You can access the final order by entering "Order 2009-
7-10" into the keyword search engine. I assure you that the Department gave full and fair
consideration to the application, as well as all comments in the docket.

As is our normal practice, I am placing a copy of your letter and this response in Docket OST-
2008-0234 as a contact outside the record in this matter. I appreciate your interest in this
proceeding.

Sincerely yours,

Susan Kurland
Assistant Secretary for
Aviation and International Affairs

cc: Senator Harry Reid

HARRY REID MAJORITY LEADER
NEVADA

lanited States Senate

WASHINGTON, DC 20510-7012

July 16, 2009

Director of Legislative Affairs

U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590

To Whom It May Concern:

Enclosed is a letter I have received from a Nevada resident.

1 would appreciate your reviewing this situation and providing answers to my

constituent's concern. Please send your reply directly to my constituent, and send a copy of your
response to me.

Thank you for your cooperation and assistance.

My best wishes to you.

Sincerely,

HARRY REID
United States Senator
Nevada

HR:nt
 iawrmsg.txt
Capitol correspond
incoming Email Message
constituent ID: 1381046
Mr. Mark Fowle
628 Joe Willis St
Las Vegas, NV 89144-4404
Emai1: fowlemh@aol.com
Phone(s): (H) 702243-7411
Activity created: 5/6/2009
File Location: 1786198
Interest code(s): TRAN

Incoming Message:

RSP: Yes.
Date Received: 5/6/2009 2:06:22 PM
Topic/Subject Desc: TRAN
Mark Fowle
628 3oe Willis Street
Las Vegas, NV 89144-4404

May 6, 2009
The Honorable Harry Reid
united States senate
522 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, oc 20510-2803

Dear Senator Reid:

As an employee of united Airlines, I am writing to express my concern over
the lack of protections for labor in the Department of Transportation's
tentative approval of Continental Airlines' and United Airlines' joint
application for Anti-Trust Immunity (ATI), granted on April 7, 2009.
Neither the application, nor the tentative approval granted it by the
Department of Transportation, fully explains the ATI relationship between
united and continental in those markets that are not currently "open
Skies." There is no reference to labor in those documents and, in its
present form, that relationship likely will cost American jobs if this ATI
is approved without modification.
The application states that "continental, in conjunction with United and
other Star Alliance ATI carriers, will pursue integrational efficiencies
on a global basis in order to reduce costs " i n both Latin America and in
the Asia/Pacific region. Many of the countries in these regions currently
do not have open skies agreements with the united States, and approval in
this form has the clear potential of disadvantaging the American workers
of each labor group at each airline. Neither carrier fully explains what
cost savings tney envision, if this ATI application is approved without
protections for labor, both carriers will then have the potential to
whipsaw their respective employee groups against each other.
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 iawrmsg.txt
The managements of united Airlines and Continental Airlines are on a fast
track for approval of their application, it is our view, however, that
enough questions have been raised that this application should be given a
full and public hearing. The new Administration needs to fully view, with
input from labor, the ramifications of such an approval.
I am not opposed to ATI as long as there are adequate protections for
labor; I simply ask that all come to the table to find that solution. This
issue is about protecting American jobs, we have had eight years of a
dismantling of our industry. The obama Administration, the Department of
Transportation and the Congress must ask the question "why does this
Anti-Trust Immunity need to be on such a fast track" Congressman Jim
Oberstar, Chair of the Transportation and infrastructure Committee,
believes this to be an issue important enough to move cautiously. We are
only asking for a level playing field.
Please use all resources to include language in this Anti-Trust Immunity
filing that clearly protects American jobs. Otherwise, i urge you not to
approve the united-Continental ATI filing until all issues concerning
American workers and American jobs have been properly resolved.
Sincerely,

Mark A. Fowle
702 243-7411

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