Title 14—Aeronautics and Space--Volume 1
PART 262—TRAVEL CREDITS OR VOUCHERS DUE TO A SERIOUS COMMUNICABLE DISEASE
§ 262.1   Purpose.
The purpose of this part is to ensure that carriers provide travel credits or vouchers, upon request, to consumers who are restricted or prohibited from traveling by a governmental entity due to a serious communicable disease ( e.g., as a result of a stay at home order, entry restriction, or border closure) or are advised by a licensed treating medical professional consistent with public health guidance issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the World Health Organization (WHO) not to travel to protect themselves or others from a serious communicable disease.
§ 262.2   Definitions.
As used in this part:
Air carrier means a citizen of the United States undertaking by any means, directly or indirectly, to provide air transportation.
Break in journey means any deliberate interruption by a passenger of a journey between a point in the United States and a point in a foreign country where there is a stopover at a foreign point scheduled to exceed 24 hours. If the stopover is 24 hours or less, whether it is a break in journey depends on various factors such as whether the segment between two foreign points and the segment between a foreign point and the United States were purchased in a single transaction and as a single ticket/itinerary, whether the segment between two foreign points is operated or marketed by a carrier that has no codeshare or interline agreement with the carrier operating or marketing the segment to or from the United States, and whether the stopover at a foreign point involves the passenger picking up checked baggage, leaving the airport, and continuing the next segment after a substantial amount of time.
Covered carrier means an air carrier or a foreign air carrier operating to, from or within the United States, conducting scheduled passenger service.
Covered flight means a scheduled flight operated or marketed by a covered carrier to, from, or within the United States, including itineraries with brief and incidental stopover(s) at a foreign point without a break in journey.
Licensed treating medical professional means an individual, including a physician, a nurse practitioner, a physician's assistant, or other medical provider, who is licensed or authorized under the law of a State or territory in the United States or a comparable jurisdiction in another country to engage in the practice of medicine to diagnose or treat a patient for a health condition that is the reason for the passenger to request a travel credit or voucher under § 262.4(b) and (c).
Merchant of record means the entity (carrier or ticket agent) responsible for processing payment by the consumer for airfare or ancillary services or products, as shown in the consumer's financial charge statements such as debit or credit card charge statements.
Foreign air carrier means a person, not a citizen of the United States, undertaking by any means, directly or indirectly, to provide foreign air transportation.
Public health emergency has the same meaning as defined in 42 CFR 70.1.
Serious communicable disease means a communicable disease as defined in 42 CFR 70.1 that can cause serious health consequences ( e.g., breathing problems, organ damage, neurological difficulties, death) and can be easily transmitted by casual contact in an aircraft cabin environment ( i.e., easily spread to others in an aircraft cabin through general activities of passengers such as sitting next to someone, shaking hands, talking to someone, or touching communal surfaces). For example, the common cold is readily transmissible in an aircraft cabin environment but does not have severe health consequences. AIDS has serious health consequences but is not readily transmissible in an aircraft cabin environment. Both the common cold and AIDS would not be considered serious communicable diseases for purposes of this part. SARS is readily transmissible in an aircraft cabin environment and has severe health consequences. SARS would be considered a serious communicable disease for purposes of this part.
§ 262.3   Applicability.
This part applies to all covered carriers that are the merchant of record for a covered flight or the operating carrier of a covered flight when a ticket agent is the merchant of record.
§ 262.4   Passengers entitled to receive travel credits or vouchers.
A covered carrier as identified in § 262.3 must provide a transferrable travel credit or voucher that does not expire for at least five years from the date of issuance to consumers described in paragraphs (a) to (c) of this section.
(a) The consumer is prohibited from travel to, from, or within the United States or is required to quarantine at the destination as shown on the consumer's itinerary for more than 50% of the length of the trip (excluding travel dates) because of a U.S. (Federal, State, or local) or foreign government restriction or prohibition ( e.g., stay at home order, entry restriction, border closure, or quarantine notice) in relation to a serious communicable disease. The consumer must have purchased the airline ticket before a public health emergency was declared for the origination or destination of the consumer's scheduled travel or, if there is no declaration of a public health emergency, before the government prohibition or restriction applicable to the origination or the destination of the consumer's scheduled travel was imposed.
(b) There is a public health emergency applicable to the origination or destination of the consumer's itinerary, the consumer purchased the airline ticket before the public health emergency was declared, the consumer is scheduled to travel during the public health emergency, and the consumer is advised by a licensed treating medical professional not to travel by air to protect himself or herself from a serious communicable disease.
(c) Regardless of whether there is a public health emergency, the consumer is advised by a licensed treating medical professional not to travel by air because the consumer has or is likely to have contracted a serious communicable disease, and the consumer's condition is such that traveling on a commercial flight would pose a direct threat to the health of others.
§ 262.5   Documentation.
In the absence of an applicable determination issued by the Department of Health and Human Services that requiring the documentation specified in paragraphs (b) or (c) of this section is not in the public interest, as a condition for issuing the travel credits or vouchers in § 262.4, carriers may require, as appropriate, documentation specified in paragraphs (a) to (c) of this section.
(a) For any consumer requesting a travel credit or voucher because of a government restriction or prohibition pursuant to § 262.4(a), carriers may require the consumer to provide the applicable current government order or other document demonstrating how the government order prohibits the consumer from travel to, from, or within the United States as scheduled or requires the consumer to quarantine for more than 50% of the length of the consumer's scheduled trip at the destination (excluding travel dates) as shown on the passenger's itinerary.
(b) For any consumer requesting a travel credit or voucher to protect his or her health pursuant to § 262.4(b), carriers may require the consumer to provide a valid medical certificate as set forth in paragraphs (b)(1) and (b)(2) of this section.
(1) For purposes of paragraph (b) of this section, a medical certificate means a written statement from a licensed treating medical professional stating that it is his/her professional opinion, based on the medical condition of the individual and current medical knowledge on the relevant serious communicable disease, including public health guidance issued by CDC or WHO, if available, that the individual should not travel during the current public health emergency by commercial air transportation to protect his or her health from a serious communicable disease.
(2) To be valid, a medical certificate under paragraph (b) of this section must be dated after the declaration of the relevant public health emergency and no earlier than one year before the scheduled travel date and include information regarding the licensed treating medical professional's license (the date of issuance, type of the license, State or other jurisdiction in which the license was issued).
(c) For any consumer requesting a travel credit or a voucher to protect the health of others pursuant to § 262.4(c), carriers may require the consumer to provide a valid medical certificate as set forth in paragraphs (c)(1) through (c)(3) of this section. For any consumer who informed carriers that there is not adequate time to obtain and submit a valid medical certificate as set forth in paragraphs (c)(1) through (c)(3) of this section before the scheduled travel date, carriers must allow submission of the medical certificate within a reasonable time after the scheduled travel date.
(1) For purposes of paragraph (c) of this section, a medical certificate means a written statement from a licensed treating medical professional stating that it is his/her professional opinion, based on the medical condition of the individual and current medical knowledge of the relevant serious communicable disease, including public health guidance issued by CDC or WHO, if available, that the individual should not travel by commercial air transportation on the date of the scheduled travel to protect the health of others from a serious communicable disease because the individual has or is likely to have contracted a serious communicable disease .
(2) To be valid, a medical certificate under paragraph (c) of this section must include information regarding the licensed treating medical professional's license (the date of issuance, type of the license, State or other jurisdiction in which license was issued).
(3) For a medical certificate under paragraph (c) of this section, carriers may require that it be dated close to the travel date, as determined based on the current medical knowledge and applicable public health guidance issued by CDC or WHO regarding the contagious period of the relevant serious communicable disease.
§ 262.6   Value of travel credits or vouchers.
Upon confirming a consumer's eligibility for a travel credit or voucher pursuant to this paragraph, a carrier must promptly issue the travel credit or voucher with a value equal to or greater than the fare (including government-imposed taxes and fees and carrier-imposed charges and prepaid ancillary service fees for services not utilized by the consumer). If a consumer has obtained a refund of the September 11th Security Fee or other government-imposed taxes and fees, then those fee amounts may be deducted from the consumer's travel credit or voucher. Nothing in this section relieves the carrier of its obligation to comply with the requirements of other Federal agencies relating to the refund of government-imposed taxes and fees.
§ 262.7   Processing fee.
A carrier may retain a processing fee for issuing the travel voucher or credit, as long as the fee is on a per-passenger basis and the existence and amount of the fee is clearly and prominently disclosed to consumers at the time they purchased the airfare.
§ 262.8   Disclosure of restrictions, conditions or limitations.
A carrier shall not impose unreasonable restrictions, conditions or limitations on the travel credits or vouchers, including a validity period that is shorter than five years from the date of issuance, a restriction on the transferability of the credits or vouchers to another individual, conditions that severely restrict booking with respect to travel date, time, route, or class of service; a limitation that allows redemption only in one booking and renders any residual value void; or a limitation that only allows the value of the credits or vouchers to apply to the base fare of a new booking but not government-imposed taxes or fees, carrier imposed fees, or ancillary service fees. A carrier must clearly disclose, no later than at the time of voucher or credit issuance, any material restrictions, limitations, or conditions on the use of the credits and vouchers that are not deemed unreasonable, including but not limited to advance purchase requirement or capacity restrictions and blackout dates.
§ 262.9   Contract of carriage.
A carrier shall not include terms or conditions in its contract of carriage inconsistent with the carriers' obligations as specified by this part. Any such action will be considered an unfair and deceptive practice within the meaning of 49 U.S.C. 41712.