Cape Air Exemption
Today, the U.S. Department of Transportation is taking action on a request for exemption from the CARES Act airline service obligations announced in Order 2020-4-2. The Department has granted the request of Cape Air to reduce its services at New York John F. Kennedy International Airport and to make other administrative changes to its service obligations. The Department’s decision also provides a means by which small air carriers such as Cape Air can petition the Department for additional flexibility to make network adjustments that will preserve capital during this extraordinary period in the airline industry. The Department’s actions require the airline to continue operating a minimum number of flights to meet critical transportation needs during the COVID-19 public health emergency, but at the same time provide relief from financial and operational burdens, responding to the needs of public officials at the state, territorial, and local levels. The requests and the Notice of Action Taken can be found on www.regulations.gov by searching “Docket-DOT-OST-2020-0037.” The Department continues to review additional requests for exemption as well as the comments being submitted in the docket. Media inquiries should be directed to pressoffice@dot.gov.
