The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has warned Baltia Air Lines (New York JFK) that it risks losing its foreign scheduled passenger authority, granted to it in 2009.
The regulator said in a letter to the near 40-year-old start-up, now trading as USGlobal Airways (BTL, Newburgh), that it could find no more good cause to grant it further extensions.
Under current rules, the effectiveness of a carrier's authority is conditioned on it fulfilling several conditions, including providing the DOT with a copy of its Air Carrier Certificate (ACC) and Operation Specifications (OpSpecs) from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorizing such operations. Typically, the entrant must then verify its fitness and launch operations within a year of the authority being granted to it or else risk having it revoked.
"Although we have granted Baltia several extensions of time to meet the conditions necessary for receipt of effective authority, Baltia has undergone material changes in its ownership, finances, key personnel, and operating plans since the Department last reviewed its fitness, and thus, it does not appear that good cause exists for further extensions from the provision of section 204.7," the DOT's Air Carrier Fitness Divisional Chief, Lauralyn Remo, said in her letter. "In light of the above, we intend to revoke Baltia's certificate authority for dormancy."
For its part, given prolonged difficulties in securing its own ACC and OpSpecs, Baltia announced plans, in September, to acquire the already Part 121-certificated carrier Songbird Airways (Lakeland). Under the terms of the USD6.5 million deal, which was to have closed in mid-October, Baltia would have acquired SongBird's ACC as well as its certificate of public convenience and necessity to conduct interstate and foreign charter air transportation.
