Foreign Carriers
Overview
Any airline of a foreign country that wants to to conduct commercial operations in foreign air transportation to/from the United States must obtain two authorizations from DOT:
- Economic authority from the Office of the Secretary of Transportation
- Safety authority from the Federal Aviation Administration
Receiving Authority
The economic authority may be in the form of a 1) foreign air carrier permit or 2) an exemption. Permit authority is longer in duration. Authority by exemption may be awarded for a maximum of two years at any one time.
To receive authority from the Department, the foreign air carrier must file an application that provides information about the:
- Carrier's ownership and management personnel
- Carrier's financial condition
- Carrier's operating plan
- Ability of the carrier and its personnel to comply with laws and regulations
In addition the airline must provide evidence of its operating authority from its homeland government and, in some cases, designation by its government to operate the proposed services. The Foreign Air Carrier Licensing Division in the Office of International Aviation processes these applications and maintains information on all licensed foreign air carriers. Foreign carriers must also comply with the Accident Plan and Passenger Manifest requirements of the Statute. Due to the scope and size aircraft operated by charter air taxi operators of Canada, the Department has provided simplified licensing requirements for those carriers. See 14 CFR Part 294.
Some foreign companies may want to operate aircraft to the United States on just an occasional basis and do not offer their services to the general public. Such companies may be permitted to operate to/from and in some cases within the United States on a limited basis. 14 CFR Part 375 of the Department’s Economic Regulations sets forth the regulatory requirements for these services. The Foreign Air Carrier Licensing Division processes these applications and maintains records about these operations.
Definitions
Under Title 49 of the United States Code (the Statute), a foreign citizen or company that desires to provide foreign air transportation service as a foreign air carrier must first obtain economic authority from the Department.
- A “foreign air carrier” is defined by 49 U.S.C. 40102(21) as “a person, not a citizen of the United States, undertaking by any means, directly or indirectly, to provide foreign air transportation.”
- “Foreign air transportation” is defined by 49 U.S.C. 40102(23) as “the transportation of passengers or property by aircraft as a common carrier for compensation, or the transportation of mail by aircraft, between a place in the United States and a place outside the United States when any part of the transportation is by aircraft.” Foreign air carriers that wish to conduct these services must apply to the Department for economic authority to do so.
As noted below, in addition to obtaining DOT economic authority, before conducting U.S. services foreign air carriers must also obtain safety authority from the Federal Aviation Administration and meet licensing requirements of any other applicable U.S. Government agencies.
Foreign Air Carrier Economic Authority – Docketed Applications for Initial Foreign Air Carrier Permits and Exemptions
Any foreign air carrier that wishes to provide commercial services in foreign air transportation to/from the United States must obtain two authorizations from the Department of Transportation—“economic” authority from the Office of the Secretary of Transportation and “safety” authority from the FAA.
The economic authority may be in the form of a foreign air carrier permit or an exemption. Permit authority is longer in duration, typically anywhere from 5 years to indefinite in duration. Authority by exemption may be awarded for a maximum of two years at any one time and can be renewed. To receive initial economic authority from the Department, a foreign air carrier must file a narrative application that provides information about, among other things, the ownership and the management personnel of the airline, its financial condition, its operating plan, and the ability of the company and its personnel to comply with laws and regulations. In addition the airline must provide evidence of its operating authority from its homeland government and, in some cases, designation by its government to operate its proposed services.
For detailed information regarding the required contents of applications and filing procedures for a foreign air carrier permit and/or exemption for initial economic authority, please review the
Applicants from European Union (EU) Member States, Iceland, and Norway should also review the Application Procedures for EU Carriers, because the evidentiary submissions required in applications from these carriers are abbreviated.
The Foreign Air Carrier Licensing Division will review the contents of the application and determine if grant of the request is in the public interest. Once a foreign carrier has been granted an exemption or permit, it may begin its U.S. services, provided that it has received safety authority from the FAA and is in compliance with the requirements of any other applicable U.S. Government agencies, including, but not limited to, the Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection.
Obtaining FAA Authority
As noted above, the economic authority issued to foreign air carriers by DOT is separate from the safety authority (commonly referred to as Part 129 Operations Specifications) granted to them by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). For safety authority application procedures and related questions, carriers should contact the appropriate FAA field office based upon the geographical location of the carrier’s homeland.
Foreign Air Carrier Economic Authority – Other Common Types of Docketed Applications
The information outlined above and provided in the Foreign Air Carrier Licensing Packet is designed primarily to assist foreign air carriers in preparing applications for initial authority. In addition to those applications, foreign air carriers that already hold valid DOT authority may need to file an application for additional, amended, or renewed exemption or permit authority. In such cases, the application contents will differ from what is required in an application for initial authority, but must contain certain information as outlined in 14 CFR Part 211 and/or 14 CFR Part 302 of our rules, depending upon the type of the application.
Application Filing Instructions and Fees
All foreign air carrier permit and exemption applications (initial and otherwise) are docketed and can be filed electronically at www.regulations.gov. Electronic filing instructions can be found here. Additional assistance with electronic filing can be obtained by contacting the DOT Docket Management Office at (202) 366-9826.
Applications can also be hand-delivered or filed my mail. The DOT Docket Management Office physical address is:
U.S. DOT Docket Management1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
West Building Ground Floor
Room W12-140
Washington, D.C. 20590
Filing fee payments must be made electronically at www.pay.gov. Additional information on filing fees and filing fee waivers can be found below:
Foreign Air Carrier Economic Authority – Common Undocketed Applications
Charter Operations Requiring Prior Approval
In general, most foreign air carriers that conduct charter operations between the United States and a 3rd country point (a point that is in a country other than in the foreign carrier’s homeland, such as 5th, 6th, and 7th freedom charters) are subject to another licensing requirement in addition to obtaining an initial exemption and/or foreign air carrier permit. Such operations are subject to prior DOT approval and carriers must obtain a statement of authorization prior to conducting these charters.
Most foreign air carriers holding DOT charter authority may operate charters between their homeland and the United States (3rd and 4th freedom charters) without additional DOT authority. However, some foreign air carriers must obtain prior DOT approval for all charters, because of reciprocity or other public interest concerns. If prior approval is required for such charter operations, the foreign air carrier’s DOT economic authority will be conditioned accordingly.
See 14 CFR Part 212 for statement of authorization application contents and filing procedures. All charter statement of authorization applications should be submitted using OST Form 4540.
Filing fees may be required, see filing fee section above. Applications and filing fee payment confirmation (if applicable) should be submitted by e-mail to the following:
Standard for DOT approval of these charter operations is a public interest test, and DOT will consider, among other things:
- The extent to which the authority sought is covered by and consistent with bilateral agreements to which the United States is a party.
- Reciprocity for 5th, 6th, and 7th freedom charters (foreign air carrier’s homeland must file formal reciprocity declaration with DOT in Docket DOT-OST-2006-24269 and such statements must be updated every 6 months)
- Reliance of applicant on homeland-U.S. charter traffic
- Validity of any responsive pleadings filed to the charter application
Long-Term Wet-lease Operations
Wet lease operations typically involve an agreement between carriers where one carrier (wet lessor) provides aircraft and crew to another carrier (wet lessee) to operate services in foreign air transportation that is marketed and held out to the public in the name of the wet lessee. For long term wet lease operations (an arrangement for more than 60 days or a series of such leases that amounts to a continuing arrangement lasting more than 60 days), the wet lessor must obtain authorization from the Department in the form of a Statement of Authorization. See 14 CFR Part 212 for application filing procedures and 14 CFR Part 257 for disclosure requirements to consumers.
Applications can be submitted on OST Form 4540 or in narrative form. Filing fees may be required, see filing fee section above. Applications and filing fee payment confirmation (if applicable) should be submitted by e-mail to the following:
Some additional information regarding wet lease operations follows:
- Wet lessee must hold underlying economic authority (scheduled or charter) in the markets involved
- The airline physically operating the aircraft (wet lessor) needs underlying charter economic authority
- The airline physically operating the aircraft (wet lessor) also needs DOT prior authorization for:
- any wet lease in a 5th, 6th, or 7th freedom market for the wet lessor
- any wet lease of more than 60 days’ duration
Standard for DOT approval of wet-lease operations is a public interest test as noted above in the charter section.
In some limited instances, foreign air carriers may provide entire aircraft and crew to a U.S. air carrier for the U.S. carrier’s services in foreign air transportation. Please see Docket DOT-OST-2008-0063 for additional guidance on this topic.
Applications under 14 CFR Part 375
Some foreign companies may want to provide charter operations to the United States on only an occasional basis and do not offer their services to the general public. Rather than having to apply for an exemption/permit as outlined above, these types of operations may meet the regulatory criteria set forth in 14 CFR Part 375. Application procedures are outlined in Part 375 and additional information regarding these types of occasional planeload charters can be found below:
Part 375 also includes information on application procedures for agricultural and industrial operations, commonly referred to as specialty air services. For Mexican and Canadian specialty air service operators, please consult our NAFTA handbook and Order 97-7-3 to determine if the operations may already be authorized. Applications can be submitted using OST Form 4509 or in narrative format.
Applications should be submitted by e-mail to:
Part 375 also covers certain operations that can be conducted without DOT approval (Subpart D) provided that they are conducted in compliance with the provisions outlined and meet the requirements of any other applicable U.S. government agencies.
