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Key
Personnel
Paul
Gretch, Director
Jeffrey Gaynes, Assistant Director for Regulatory Affairs
Mary Street, Assistant Director for
Negotiations
John Kiser, Pricing and Multilateral Affairs Division
Chief
Esta Rosenberg, U.S. Carrier Licensing Division
Chief
Bob Finamore, Foreign Carrier Licensing Division
Acting
Chief
Torlanda Archer, Special Authorities Chief
OFFICE
FUNCTION
OFFICE
MISSION:
To develop, coordinate, and execute departmental international
aviation transportation policy.
a.
Provides policy advice and policy recommendations to the Assistant
Secretary for Aviation on issues involving international civil
aviation, including principal responsibilities for bilateral and
multilateral aviation negotiations.
b.
Serves as the Department’s representative at formal and
informal bilateral
and multilateral air transportation negotiations and provides
policy guidance and technical and analytical support to other
United States agencies during the conduct of negotiations.
c. Maintains liaison and coordinates with Federal agencies, state
and local
governments, airports, the airline industry, and other public
and private
interests on international aviation transportation matters.
d. Reviews, processes, and disposes or recommends disposition
of: (1) applications for U.S. air carrier certificates or amendments
thereto under Section 41102 or 41108 of the Federal Aviation Act;
(2) applications for foreign air carrier permits under Section
41302 of the Act; (3) applications for exemptions under Section
40109 of the Act; (4) fitness determination of foreign carriers;
and (5) additional authorities related to the exercise of those
cited, as well as authorities to perform charter flights (including
code-share operations and wet-lease operations under Part 212
of the Department’s Regulations) to engage in intermodal
cargo operations
(under Part 222 of the Department’s Regulations), to navigate
foreign civil aircraft within the United States other than for
common carriage (under Part 375 of the Department’s Regulations)
and to commingle blind-sector traffic by foreign air carriers
(under Part 216 of the Department’s
Regulations).
e.
Reviews international fare, rate, and rules agreements and tariffs
filings; maintains fare formulas required by statute or departmental
policy. Coordinates on policies and operating standards for electronic
tariff systems. These functions are carried out in conjunction
with the Office of the General Counsel, where appropriate.
f.
Coordinates with and advises components of the Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Aviation, the Office of the Assistant Secretary
for Transportation Policy, the Office of Intelligence and Security,
the Office of the General Counsel, the Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Governmental Affairs, the Research and Special Programs
Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Transportation
Security Administration, and other U.S. and foreign government
agencies in order to execute effectively the international aviation
policy of the United States. Coordinated matters include, but
are not limited to: negotiating positions and day-to–day
implementation of international air transport agreements and resolution
of bilateral and multilateral relations problems; legislation;
regulatory policy; air cargo policy; deceptive or discriminatory
practices; aviation environmental protection; aviation security
and safety; facilitation; and airline marketing systems..
Monitors the activities of international bodies, such as the International
Civil Aviation Organization, World Trade Organization, Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development, and Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation, that involve international aviation matters, and
represents the Department on such bodies as appropriate.
g.
Recommends action under and implements the International Air Transportation
Fair Competitive Practices Act (IATFCPA).
h. Recommends action under and implements the provisions of Chapter
14 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 213 (14 CFR 213) to
require, as necessary, the filing of schedules by foreign air
carriers and to disapprove those schedules or portions thereof,
where appropriate, as authorized under the provisions of the Part.
i. Initiates, develops, and coordinates and/or reviews departmental
positions on legislative proposals involving international aviation.
j. Analyzes departmental and other data to support bilateral and
multilateral aviation negotiations. Coordinates with the Research
and Special Programs Administration and the Bureau of Transportation
Statistics in the acquisition and maintenance of international
data.
k.
Develops and administers requirements imposed on direct and indirect
air carriers, including bonding and escrow requirements. Administers
registration of Canadian air taxi operators, and foreign air freight
forwarders; reviews charter prospectuses filed by tour operators
and processes requests for waivers of governing regulations.
l.
Manages aviation technical assistance programs.
Negotiations
Division
The negotiating
staff of the Office of International Aviation plans and executes
U.S. strategy for achieving an equitable, procompetitive operating
environment for U.S. airline services between the United States
and foreign countries. It develops and coordinates U.S. policy positions
and conduct bilateral and multilateral negotiations with foreign
aviation officials. The
negotiators also are the principal U.S. Government liaison with
the aviation industry and U.S. communities on international matters.
These geographic specialists work with State Department officers
here
and in embassies abroad, and directly with foreign officials, to
resolve day-to-day air carrier problems outside the formal negotiating
process. Contact
information
Pricing
and Multilateral Affairs
The
Pricing and Multilateral Affairs Division performs a variety of
both regulatory and negotiating functions.
The Division formulates the Department's policy on international
aviation pricing issues and prepares and negotiates significant
pricing provisions of bilateral and multilateral aviation agreements.
Division analysts also conduct regulatory review of international
fares and rates filed by U.S. and foreign air carriers to determine
whether the proposed prices are consistent with public interest
standards, Department rules and policy, and applicable international
agreements. In addition, the Division performs cost analysis to determine the
Standard Foreign Fare Level, a reference index of justifiable increases
in airline charges which is required by the Title 49 of our governing
statute. The staff also reviews intercarrier agreements,
mostly fare and rate agreements filed by the International Air Transport
Association (IATA), to determine whether they should be approved
and given antitrust immunity. Division
staff also provide analytical support for negotiating activities
of the Office’s geographic units.
The
Division also is responsible for managing aviation economic aspects
of U.S. relations with a number of multinational organizations,
including the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO),
the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC), the Commission of
the European Communities (EC), The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC), and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Division staff analyze aviation issues addressed
by these organizations and represent the United States at multilateral
meetings. This function
is expanding significantly as these multilateral organizations become
more deeply involved in issues that traditionally have been handled
on a bilateral basis.
Contact
information
U.S. Air Carrier
Licensing
The U.S.
Air Carrier Licensing Division processes all requests by U.S. airlines
for authority to serve foreign markets. The division uses
simplified procedures to grant routine applications to serve countries
with which a liberal aviation regime affords broad market access.
Where rights are limited, show-cause or competitive
selection procedures
are invoked to assure that all interested carriers are afforded
an opportunity to apply, and that the best public-interest result
is achieved. The division also considers applications for transfer of international
authority among U.S. carriers.
Another
significant area of the division's responsibilities is handling
formal complaints filed by U.S. carriers seeking relief, under the
International Air Transportation Fair Competitive Practices Act
(IATFCPA),
from unfair or discriminatory treatment in foreign countries.
Contact information
Foreign
Air Carrier Licensing
This
division handles all foreign air carrier applications for operating
authority (except Canadian air taxi registration which is handled
by the Special Authorities Division). The Foreign
Air Carrier Licensing Division performs fitness analysis of its
applicants in addition to resolving the public interest issues
associated with an application where needed.
Contact
information
Foreign
carriers file docketed applications for foreign air carrier permits
and long-term exemptions, and undocketed applications for short-term
exemptions, charter statements of authorization (for all Fifth Freedom
charters, certain Third and Fourth Freedom charters, long-term wet
leases, blocked-space arrangements and code sharing), permits for
foreign aircraft agricultural and industrial operations and other
forms of authority. The
Division also produces orders intended to respond to unfair
treatment of U.S. airlines abroad. These include orders imposing/rescinding Part
213 schedule filing requirements on foreign carriers, orders disapproving
the schedules, and orders subjecting foreign carriers to Third and
Fourth Freedom charter approval.
Special
Authorities
The Special
Authorities Division (SAD) administers and implements the provisions
of 14 CFR Parts 212, 294, 297 and 380 to ensure that U.S. and
foreign operators are in compliance with the department’s
regulations. Specifically, SAD administers the bonding, escrow, and
liability insurance requirements imposed on direct and indirect air
carriers, Canadian air taxis and foreign air freight forwarders
under the Department’s regulations. The division reviews charter
prospectuses filed under the Department’s public charter rules, and
processes the registration of foreign tour operators, foreign air
freight forwarders and Canadian air taxis. The division also grants
waivers from the governing regulations where appropriate and in the
public interest.
Contact
information
Revised
on
June 06, 2009
Content provided by Paul Gretch, Director
(202) 366-2423
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