[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 3, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14312-14313]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-06725]
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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, 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 collection of information was
published on January 23, 2018 (83 FR 3256). There were three comments
received. One from (c c) commenting on how wind turbines kill bats and
the overall value of bats. One from (s s) commenting on the need for
regulations on imported goods and trade violations. One from (v v)
commenting the need to expand tariffs on rare earth elements in
countries that exploit child labor. As none of the filed comments
pertain to large certificated air carrier financial data and the need
for such, the Department will not address these specific comments in
this particular forum.
DATES: Written comments should be submitted by May 3, 2018.
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,
[[Page 14313]]
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: 60.
Estimated Time per Response: 4 hours per schedule, an average
carrier may submit 90 schedules in one year.
Total Annual Burden: 13,910 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.
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 March 27, 2018.
William Chadwick, Jr.,
Director, Office of Airline Information, Bureau of Transportation
Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2018-06725 Filed 4-2-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P