This part sets forth the fitness data that must be submitted by applicants for certificate authority, by applicants for authority to provide service as a commuter air carrier to an eligible place, by carriers proposing to provide essential air transportation, and by certificated air carriers and commuter air carriers proposing a substantial change in operations, ownership, or management. This part also contains the procedures and filing requirements applicable to carriers that hold dormant authority.

As used in this part:

(a) All-cargo air carrier or section 41103 carrier means an air carrier holding an all-cargo air transportation certificate issued under section 41103 of 49 U.S.C. Subtitle VII authorizing the transportation by aircraft in interstate air transportation of only property or only mail, or both.

(b) Certificate authority means authority to provide air transportation granted by the Secretary of Transportation in the form of a certificate of public convenience and necessity under 49 U.S.C. 41102 or an all-cargo air transportation certificate to perform all-cargo air transportation under 49 U.S.C. 41103. Certificated carriers are those that hold certificate authority, including those carriers operating by law under the regulatory provisions under the Department's predecessor.

(c) Citizen of the United States means:

(1) An individual who is a citizen of the United States;

(2) A partnership each of whose partners is an individual who is a citizen of the United States; or

(3) A corporation or association organized under the laws of the United States or a State, the District of Columbia, or a territory or possession of the United States, of which the president and at least two-thirds of the board of directors and other managing officers are citizens of the United States, which is under the actual control of citizens of the United States, and in which at least 75 percent of the voting interest is owned or controlled by persons that are citizens of the United States.

(d) Commuter air carrier means an air carrier holding or seeking authority under part 298 of this Chapter that carries passengers on at least five round trips per week on at least one route between two or more points according to its published flight schedules that specify the times, days of the week, and places between which those flights are performed.

(e) Eligible place means a place in the United States that meets the specified criteria outlined in 49 U.S.C. Chapter 417.

(f) Essential air service is that air transportation which the Department has found to be essential under Subchapter II of Chapter 417 of 49 U.S.C. Subtitle VII.

(g) Fit means fit, willing, and able to perform the air transportation in question properly and to conform to the provisions of 49 U.S.C. Subtitle VII and the rules, regulations and requirements issued under 49 U.S.C. Subtitle VII.

(h) Interstate air transportation means the transportation of passengers or property by aircraft as a common carrier for compensation, or the transportation of mail by aircraft—

(1) Between a place in—

(i) A State, territory, or possession of the United States and a place in the District of Columbia or another State, territory, or possession of the United States;

(ii) Hawaii and another place in Hawaii through the airspace over a place outside Hawaii;

(iii) The District of Columbia and another place in the District of Columbia; or

(iv) A territory or possession of the United States and another place in the same territory or possession; and

(2) When any part of the transportation is by aircraft.

(i) Key personnel include the directors, president, chief executive officer, chief operating officer, all vice presidents, the directors or supervisors of operations, maintenance, and finance, and the chief pilot of the applicant or air carrier, as well as any part-time or full-time advisors or consultants to the management of the applicant or air carrier.

(j) Normalized operations are those which are relatively free of start-up costs and temporary barriers to full-scale operations posed by the carrier's limited experience.

(k) Relevant corporations are the applicant or air carrier, any subsidiary thereof, any predecessor thereof (i.e., any air carrier in which any directors, principal officers or persons having a substantial interest have or once had a substantial interest), and any company (including a sole proprietorship or partnership) which has a significant financial or managerial influence on the applicant or air carrier. The latter includes:

(1) Any company (including a sole proprietorship or partnership) holding more than 50 percent of the outstanding voting stock of the applicant or air carrier; and

(2) Any company (including a sole proprietorship or partnership) holding between 20 percent and 50 percent of the outstanding voting stock of the applicant or air carrier and which has significant influence over the applicant or air carrier as indicated, for example, by 25 percent representation on the board of directors, participation in policy-making processes, substantial inter-company transactions, or managerial personnel with common responsibilities in both companies.

(l) Substantial change in operations, ownership, or management includes, but is not limited to, the following events:

(1) Changes in operations from charter to scheduled service, cargo to passenger service, short-haul to long-haul service, or (for a certificated air carrier) small-aircraft to large-aircraft operations;

(2) The filing of a petition for reorganization or a plan of reorganization under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy laws;

(3) The acquisition by a new shareholder or the accumulation by an existing shareholder of beneficial control of 10 percent or more of the outstanding voting stock in the corporation; and

(4) A change in the president, chief executive officer or chief operating officer, and/or a change in at least half of the other key personnel within any 12-month period or since its latest fitness review, whichever is the more recent period.

(m) Substantial interest means beneficial control of 10 percent or more of the outstanding voting stock.