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Hogan Lovells US LLP
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April 15, 2015
By Hand Delivery and www.regulations.gov
DOCKET NUMBERS:
DOT-OST-2015-0082
DOC-2015-0001
DOS-2015-0016
U.S. Department of Transportation
U.S. Department of Commerce
U.S. Department of State
Anthony Foxx
Secretary of Transportation
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave., SE
Washington, DC 20590
John Kerry
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C St., NW
Washington, DC 20520
Penny Pritzker
Secretary of Commerce
U.S. Department of Commerce
1401 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20230
Re:
Emirates Request for Public Release of Documents Sent to or Received From the
Partnership for Open & Fair Skies, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United
Airlines
Secretary Foxx, Secretary Kerry and Secretary Pritzker:
On behalf of our client, Emirates, we request that the U.S. Departments of Transportation,
Commerce, and State release the materials received from, and requests for information and
questionnaires issued to the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and
American Airlines (collectively the “Coalition”), regarding their allegations related to airline
subsidization.
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Letter to Secretary Foxx, Secretary Kerry
and Secretary Pritzker
-2-
April 15, 2015
www.regulations.gov
On April 10, each of the U.S. agencies listed above issued notices and press releases announcing
an open forum (through www.regulations.gov) for stakeholders to provide comments and submit
information regarding Coalition allegations of subsidization of Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar
Airways.
The Coalition’s subsidy allegations against Emirates are demonstrably false, as Emirates will
conclusively demonstrate.
The agencies stated in their press releases that the recent allegations by the Partnership for Open &
Fair Skies (which includes the three air carriers named above and labor unions) are of significant
interest to all stakeholders, as well as the three agencies. The agencies also stated their
commitment to transparency, public participation, and collaboration during the comment process,
and that interested stakeholders would have access to information submitted by other stakeholders.
In the spirit of the agencies’ commitment to transparency and access to information submitted by all
stakeholders, Emirates asks the agencies to immediately release into the “open forum” the materials
received from, and requests for information and questionnaires issued to the Partnership for Open &
Fair Skies,1 as well as the carriers supporting the Coalition, regarding allegations related to airline
subsidization. In accordance with the agencies’ notices, such information should only be withheld
and denied to the public if it includes trade secrets, or confidential commercial and financial
information. Further, to the extent that information was disclosed in the Partnership’s publicly
released White Paper, such information is no longer subject to confidential treatment. To the extent
that there are documents that are entitled to confidential treatment, the Department of Transportation
and others can invoke their well-established confidentiality procedures to provide Emirates and its
counsel access to that information.
Emirates respectfully submits its own interest in a transparent and balanced evaluation process that
allows Emirates to defend itself against the pernicious falsehoods that have wrongly been advanced
against it. It would be fundamentally unfair for Emirates to be asked to respond to specific
allegations when it continues to be denied full access to all of the materials the Coalition claims
support those allegations. Emirates submits that release of the requested documents and
information will enable a fair, more thorough and more balanced evaluation and assessment of each
of the Coalition’s claims.
In addition to the Partnership’s publicly released White Paper, Emirates understands that the
Coalition has made other submissions or provided certain annexes to one or more agencies
involving subsidy allegations that have not been disclosed. We also understand that one or more of
the agencies issued several questions in March 2015 to American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and
United Airlines (and perhaps others) related to their allegations against Emirates and other airlines.
Emirates requests that these questions also be publicly released immediately and posted on the
www.regulations.gov website under the corresponding docket numbers (along with any responses
from the Coalition airlines once submitted). Emirates expects that its comments will address both the
false allegations against it and the questions issued by the agencies to the Coalition.
*
1
*
*
Our understanding is that the Coalition’s website does not disclose all the information and documents it
and its members have provided to the U.S. Government.
Letter to Secretary Foxx, Secretary Kerry
and Secretary Pritzker
-4-
April 15, 2015
www.regulations.gov
Caroline Atkinson, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor
for International Economics
Jason Miller, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council
John Galloway, Chief of Staff to Jeffrey Zients
Nathaniel Loewentheil, Senior Policy Advisor to the National Economic Council
Paul Marin, Director, Trade and Investment, National Security Council