[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 166 (Thursday, August 27, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45894-45895]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-23080]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
Federal Aviation Administration
[Docket No. OST 98-4025]
Request for Public Comment on Competitive Issues Affecting the
Domestic Airline Industry
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Federal Aviation Administration,
United States Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Notice extending comment period.
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SUMMARY: On July 13, 1998, the Department of Transportation opened a
public docket to receive information from interested parties on airport
practices and their implications for competition among air carriers.
Parties wishing to file comments with the Department were given until
September 1, 1998. By this notice, the Department is extending the time
period for public comment from September 1, 1998, until December 30,
1998.
DATES: Comments should be received by December 30, 1998. Comments that
are received after that date will be considered only to the extent
possible.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information on the
scope of the Department's study or the name of the individual in DOT
who is in the best position to answer your questions, please contact
either James New (202-366-4868) or Larry Phillips (202-366-4382). A
copy of this Notice can be obtained via the World Wide Web at: http://
www.dot.gov/ost/aviation/. Comments placed in the docket will be
available for viewing on the Internet.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department recently published a request
for public comment on competitive issues affecting the domestic airline
industry (63 FR 37612, July 13, 1998). In that request, we asked
parties to provide us with detailed information on 14 specific issues
that focus on airport practices and their impact on airline
competition. Based on an August 6 petition of the Air Transport
Association of America (ATA) to extend the comment period, as well as
correspondence from the Airports
[[Page 45895]]
Council International, N.A. (ACI), we are now convinced that our
original schedule for submission of this material was unrealistic.
The ATA petitioned pursuant to the Department's Rulemaking
Procedures (49 CFR 5.25(a)) to extend the comment period by at least
120 days, to December 30, 1998 on the grounds that it needs time to
prepare and conduct an extensive survey of airlines and airports,
organize and analyze the data collected, and draft comments for
approval by its members in response to the complex issues we raised.
Stating that it does not wish to unduly delay this proceeding, ATA
nevertheless argued that we have no regulatory deadline to meet and
that it could be more helpful if it had more time to collect and
analyze information. In further support of its petition, the ATA
claimed it will need time to review our expected responses to its
August 6 Freedom of Information Act requests for records pertinent to
our Federal Register notice in this docket. Finally, the ATA requests a
supplemental notice and comment period for our intended methodology for
analyzing the information and data relevant to the competitive issues
affecting the airline industry. ATA requested that we act within ten
business days of its filing. The ATA stated that, since its member
airlines serve, either directly or through code-share relationships,
about 95 percent of the more than 400 domestic commercial service
airports, it has a substantive interest in this proceeding.
In a July 16 letter to us, the ACI said that our September 1
deadline would not allow it adequate time to compile, verify and
analyze pertinent information from airport operators and then prepare
well-reasoned responses to the complex legal, economic, and policy
questions identified.
Under our rules (49 CFR 5.25(b)), we may grant a petition for
extension of time when a petitioner shows that it is in the public
interest and the petitioner has good cause for the extension and a
substantive interest in the proposed action. We have determined that it
would be reasonable and in the public interest to give parties more
time to prepare their submissions. While we are interested in a prompt
study of the competitive issues affecting the domestic airline
industry, we realize that the industry needs additional time to
formulate its comments, to issue surveys, and to process the survey
results.
Accordingly:
1. We grant the request of the Air Transport Association to extend
the date by which comments to Docket No. OST-98-4025 are due to
December 30, 1998; and
2. We deny all other requests.
Rosalind A. Knapp,
Deputy General Counsel, Department of Transportation.
Susan L. Kurland,
Associate Administrator for Airports, Federal Aviation Administration.
[FR Doc. 98-23080 Filed 8-26-98; 8:45 am]
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