II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1362

To establish a commission to study the airline industry and to recommend

policies to ensure consumer information and choice.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 14, 1999

Mr. BURNS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To establish a commission to study the airline industry and

to recommend policies to ensure consumer information

and choice.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improved Consumer

5 Access to Travel Information Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL COMMISSION TO ENSURE CONSUMER IN7 FORMATION AND CHOICE IN THE AIRLINE IN8 DUSTRY.

9 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the continued success of a deregulated air2 line system requires that consumers have full access

3 to complete information concerning airline fares,

4 routes, and other services;

5 (2) the means of distributing information about

6 the products and services of the airline industry are

7 changing;

8 (3) during the past 4 years, airlines have begun

9 selling a larger percentage of their products and

10 services directly to consumers, and Internet busi11 nesses are now offering services that allow con12 sumers to compare prices for these products and

13 services;

14 (4) airline policies with respect to travel agen15 cies, who historically have sold a majority of the air16 line industry’s products and services, threaten the

17 ability of consumers to gather the information nec18 essary to evaluate market prices, routes, and serv19 ices; and

20 (5) further reductions in the number of travel

21 agents and greater marketplace reliance on direct

22 airline sales may result in a marketplace in which

23 consumers lack sufficient information and are there24 by forced to pay higher prices.
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1 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com2 mission to be known as the ‘‘National Commission to En3 sure Consumer Information and Choice in the Airline In4 dustry’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’).

5 (c) DUTIES.—

6 (1) STUDY.—The Commission shall undertake a

7 study of—

8 (A) consumer access to information about

9 the products and services of the airline indus10 try;

11 (B) the effect on the marketplace of the

12 emergence of new means of distributing such

13 products and services;

14 (C) the effect on consumers of the declin15 ing financial condition of travel agents in the

16 United States; and

17 (D) the impediments imposed by the air18 line industry on distributors of the industry’s

19 products and services, including travel agents

20 and Internet-based distributors.

21 (2) POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS.—Based on the

22 results of the study described in paragraph (1), the

23 Commission shall recommend to the President and

24 Congress policies necessary to—
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1 (A) ensure full consumer access to com2 plete information concerning airline fares,

3 routes, and other services;

4 (B) ensure that the means of distributing

5 the products and services of the airline indus6 try, and of disseminating information about

7 such products and services, is adequate to en8 sure that competitive information is available in

9 the marketplace;

10 (C) ensure that distributors of the prod11 ucts and services of the airline industry have

12 adequate relief from illegal, anticompetitive

13 practices that occur in the marketplace; and

14 (D) foster healthy competition in the air15 line industry and the entry of new entrants.

16 (d) SPECIFIC MATTERS TO BE ADDRESSED.—In car17 rying out the study authorized under subsection (c)(1), the

18 Commission shall specifically address the following:

19 (1) CONSUMER ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—

20 With respect to consumer access to information re21 garding the services and products offered by the air22 line industry, the following:

23 (A) The state of such access.
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1 (B) The effect in the 5-year period fol2 lowing the date of the study of the making of

3 alliances in the airline industry.

4 (C) Whether and to what degree the trends

5 regarding such access will produce benefits to

6 consumers.

7 (2) MEANS OF DISTRIBUTION.—With respect to

8 the means of distributing the products and services

9 of the airline industry, the following:

10 (A) The state of such means of distribu11 tion.

12 (B) The roles played by travel agencies

13 and Internet-based providers of travel informa14 tion and services in distributing such products

15 and services.

16 (C) Whether the policies of the United

17 States promote the access of consumers to mul18 tiple means of distribution.

19 (3) AIRLINE RESERVATION SYSTEMS.—With re20 spect to airline reservation systems, the following:

21 (A) The rules, regulations, policies, and

22 practices of the industry governing such sys23 tems.

24 (B) How trends in such systems will affect

25 consumers, including—
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1 (i) the effect on consumer access to

2 flight reservation information; and

3 (ii) the effect on consumers of the use

4 by the airline industry of penalties and

5 promotions to convince distributors to use

6 such systems, and the degree of consumer

7 awareness of such penalties and pro8 motions.

9 (4) LEGAL IMPEDIMENTS TO DISTRIBUTORS

10 SEEKING RELIEF FOR ANTICOMPETITIVE ACTIONS.—

11 The policies of the United States with respect to the

12 legal impediments to distributors seeking relief for

13 anticompetitive actions, including—

14 (A) Federal preemption of civil actions

15 against airlines; and

16 (B) the role of the Department of Trans17 portation in enforcing rules against anti18 competitive practices.

19 (e) MEMBERSHIP.—

20 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Commission shall be

21 composed of 15 voting members and 11 nonvoting

22 members as follows:

23 (A) 5 voting members and 1 nonvoting

24 member appointed by the President.
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1 (B) 3 voting members and 3 nonvoting

2 members appointed by the Speaker of the

3 House of Representatives.

4 (C) 2 voting members and 2 nonvoting

5 members appointed by the minority leader of

6 the House of Representatives.

7 (D) 3 voting members and 3 nonvoting

8 members appointed by the majority leader of

9 the Senate.

10 (E) 2 voting members and 2 nonvoting

11 members appointed by the minority leader of

12 the Senate

13 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—Voting members ap14 pointed under paragraph (1) shall be appointed from

15 among individuals who are experts in economics,

16 service product distribution, or transportation, or

17 any related discipline, and who can represent con18 sumers, passengers, shippers, travel agents, airlines,

19 or general aviation.

20 (3) TERMS.—Members shall be appointed for

21 the life of the Commission.

22 (4) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission

23 shall be filled in the manner in which the original

24 appointment was made.
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1 (5) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Members shall serve

2 without pay but shall receive travel expenses, includ3 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance

4 with subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United

5 States Code.

6 (6) CHAIRPERSON.—The President, in consulta7 tion with the Speaker of the House of Representa8 tives and the majority leader of the Senate, shall

9 designate the Chairperson of the Commission (re10 ferred to in this Act as the ‘‘Chairperson’’) from

11 among its voting members.

12 (f) COMMISSION PANELS.—The Chairperson shall es13 tablish such panels consisting of voting members of the

14 Commission as the Chairperson determines appropriate to

15 carry out the functions of the Commission.

16 (g) STAFF.—The Commission may appoint and fix

17 the pay of such personnel as it considers appropriate.

18 (h) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon request

19 of the Commission, the head of any department or agency

20 of the United States may detail, on a reimbursable basis,

21 any of the personnel of that department or agency to the

22 Commission to assist it in carrying out its duties under

23 this section.

24 (i) OTHER STAFF AND SUPPORT.—Upon the request

25 of the Commission, or a panel of the Commission, the Sec-
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1 retary of Transportation shall provide the Commission or

2 panel with professional and administrative staff and other

3 support, on a reimbursable basis, to assist the Commission

4 or panel in carrying out its responsibilities.

5 (j) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commission

6 may secure directly from any department or agency of the

7 United States information (other than information re8 quired by any statute of the United States to be kept con9 fidential by such department or agency) necessary for the

10 Commission to carry out its duties under this section.

11 Upon request of the Commission, the head of that depart12 ment or agency shall furnish such nonconfidential infor13 mation to the Commission.

14 (k) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the date

15 on which initial appointments of members to the Commis16 sion are completed, the Commission shall transmit to the

17 President and Congress a report on the activities of the

18 Commission, including recommendations made by the

19 Commission under subsection (c)(2).

20 (l) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate

21 on the 30th day following the date of transmittal of the

22 report under subsection (k). All records and papers of the

23 Commission shall thereupon be delivered by the Adminis24 trator of General Services for deposit in the National Ar25 chives.
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1 (m) APPLICABILITY OF THE FEDERAL ADVISORY

2 COMMITTEE ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act

3 (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Commission.

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