JetBlue and Spirit Airlines Exemption
The Office of Aviation and International Affairs is receiving and processing requests for exemption from the Department’s airline service obligations announced in Order 2020-4-2. On Apr. 16, 2020, the Department notified the first two requesting airlines, JetBlue and Spirit, of its decision to grant exemptions to certain points, but deny and defer others, based upon the requirements of the CARES Act and Order 2020-4-2. The Department continues to review exemption requests from 11 airlines and will make new notifications of its decisions on a rolling basis after comment periods have closed. Each airline wishes to become exempt from serving various points in their networks, often in cases where points are served seasonally or where demand is very low. For each filing, interested parties have three business days to comment, and the filing party may respond within 2 business days of comments. All requests, comments, and notices of action taken by the Department can be found on www.regulations.gov by searching Docket DOT-OST-2020-0037.
