--- In BATN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "12/27 SF Examiner" <batn@xxxx> wrote: Published Tuesday, December 27, 2005, in the San Francisco Examiner Feds give Virgin's foes confidential documents Startup airline in dispute over foreign control By Neil H. Dempsey Confidential information filed by Virgin America with the Department of Transportation has been released to representatives of the half-dozen airlines and unions voicing concerns over how much control Richard Branson and his Virgin Group might have over the startup carrier, which hopes to gain a berth at SFO. Continental, American and Delta airlines, as well as the Air Line Pilots Association, the Allied Pilots Association and the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, filed opposition to the certification of Virgin as a carrier on the grounds it had not satisfactorily shown it would be domestically controlled. Under federal law, a U.S. airline's voting interest must be at least 75 percent domestically owned. The Department of Transportation ordered Friday that confidential documents be immediately released to the counsel and experts of interested parties. Confidentiality statements will be required of those who view the documents, the DOT ordered. After the agency rules -- as early as Thursday -- on a motion from Continental Airlines requesting that Virgin's certification proceedings be suspended and the startup be required to supply additional information, the application comment period will be extended by two weeks. Experts have indicated Virgin America's arrival in the Bay Area could bring thousands of jobs to the area and millions of dollars in revenue to SFO. Company representative Stacy Geagan said Monday that the airline feels the issue of domestic ownership will be resolved by the information released. "We believe it's very positive," Geagan said. Virgin America actually petitioned the agency last Thursday to release the confidential information to interested parties while continuing to expedite the application process. The company simultaneously blasted critics, calling Continental's analysis "hurried," some of it its assertions "meritless" and asking the government to "resist competitors' coordinated attempts to obscure the issues." ALPA President Duane Woerth said last week that his union, which represents 63,000 members and has filed correspondence with DOT against Virgin America, was concerned that foreign control of a domestic airline could strike a blow to the American work force. He said Virgin America's arrival in the aviation industry coincides with an ongoing debate -- spurred by a possible open-skies agreement with the European Union -- about relaxing such ownership rules. "Basically, Richard Branson is just caught in the middle," Woerth said. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom told the DOT in a letter filed on Dec. 23 that Virgin America "fully complies" with U.S. regulations regarding foreign control of an airline and that the incoming carrier would provide "a major stimulus" for the Bay Area?s economy. E-mail: ndempsey@xxxx --- End forwarded message ---