[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 18 (Wednesday, January 28, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4635-4636]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-01533]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Bureau Of Transportation Statistics
[Docket ID Number DOT-OST-2014-0031]
Agency Information Collection: Activity Under OMB Review: Report
of Financial and Operating Statistics for Large Certificated Air
Carriers
AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
(OST-R), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), DOT.
ACTION: Notice
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information
Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below is being forwarded to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for an extension of a currently
approved collection. The ICR describes the nature of the information
collection and its expected burden. The Federal Register Notice with a
60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following
[[Page 4636]]
collection of information was published on November 19, 2014 (79 FR
68953). The Bureau of Economic Analysis at the Department of Commerce
submitted comments in support of the continuation of the data
collection.
DATES: Written comments should be submitted by February 27, 2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff Gorham, Office of Airline
Information, RTS-42, Room E34-414, OST-R, BTS, 1200 New Jersey Avenue
SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001, Telephone Number (202) 366-4406, Fax
Number (202) 366-3383 or EMAIL [email protected].
Comments: Send comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725-17th Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20503, Attention: OST Desk Officer.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
OMB Approval No. 2138-0013
Title: Report of Financial and Operating Statistics for Large
Certificated Air Carriers.
Form No.: BTS Form 41.
Type Of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Respondents: Large certificated air carriers.
Number of Respondents: 63.
Estimated Time per Response: 4 hours per schedule, an average
carrier may submit 90 schedules in one year.
Total Annual Burden: 22,680 hours.
Needs and Uses: Program uses for Form 41 data are as follows:
Mail Rates
The Department of Transportation sets and updates mainline Alaska
mail rates based on carrier aircraft operating expense, traffic and
operational data. Form 41 cost data, especially fuel costs, terminal
expenses, and line haul expenses are used in arriving at rate levels.
DOT revises the established rates based on the percentage of unit cost
changes in the carriers' operations. These updating procedures have
resulted in the carriers receiving rates of compensation that more
closely parallel their costs of providing mail service and contribute
to the carriers' ability to continue providing service.
Submission of U.S. Carrier Data to ICAO
As a party to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, the
United States is obligated to provide the International Civil Aviation
Organization with financial and statistical data on operations of U.S.
air carriers. Over 99 percent of the data filed with ICAO is extracted
from the carriers' Form 41 reports.
Carrier Fitness
Fitness determinations are made for both new entrants and
established U.S. carriers proposing a substantial change in operations.
A portion of these applications consists of an operating plan for the
first year (14 CFR part 204) and an associated projection of revenues
and expenses. The carrier's operating costs, included in these
projections, are compared against the cost data in Form 41 for a
carrier or carriers with the same aircraft type and similar operating
characteristics. Such a review validates the reasonableness of the
carrier's operating plan.
Form 41 reports, particularly balance sheet reports and cash flow
statements, play a major role in the identification of vulnerable
carriers. Data comparisons are made between current and past periods in
order to assess the current financial position of the carrier.
Financial trend lines are extended into the future to analyze the
continued viability of the carrier. DOT reviews three areas of a
carrier's operation: (1) The qualifications of its management team, (2)
its disposition to comply with laws and regulations, and (3) its
financial posture. DOT must determine whether or not a carrier has
sufficient financial resources to conduct its operations without
imposing undue risk on the traveling public. Moreover, once a carrier
is operating, DOT is required to monitor its continuing fitness.
Senior DOT officials must be kept fully informed as to all current
and developing economic issues affecting the airline industry. In
preparing financial conditions reports or status reports on a
particular airline, financial and traffic data are analyzed. Briefing
papers may use the same information.
Pending Rulemaking
On July 15, 2011, the Department published a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to collect certain Form 41 revenue
information on airline-imposed fees in a more detailed manner (see 76
FR 41726). Many air carriers have adopted a la carte pricing with
separate fees for certain optional services that use to be included in
the ticket price. Carriers currently report excess baggage fees,
reservation cancellation fees and miscellaneous operating revenues. The
proposed rule would require carriers to report, (1) itinerary related
fees, (2) seating assignment fees, (3) baggage fees broken down between
first and second checked bags, carry-on bags and other bags, (4)
unaccompanied minor/passenger assistance fees, and (5) other fees. The
Department wants to make airline pricing more transparent to consumers
and airline analysts.
Administrative Issues
The Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency
Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note) requires a statistical agency to
clearly identify information it collects for non-statistical purposes.
BTS hereby notifies the respondents and the public that BTS uses the
information it collects under this OMB approval for non-statistical
purposes including, but not limited to, publication of both
Respondent's identity and its data, submission of the information to
agencies outside BTS for review, analysis and possible use in
regulatory and other administrative matters.
Issued in Washington, DC, on January 22, 2015.
William Chadwick Jr.,
Director of the Office of Airline Information, Bureau of Transportation
Statistics, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and
Technology.
[FR Doc. 2015-01533 Filed 1-27-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P