I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1366

To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide relief to the airline 

industry, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 19, 2003

Mr. OBERSTAR (for himself, Mr. DEFAZIO, and Mr. LIPINSKI) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 

and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and 

Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide relief 

to the airline industry, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘Aviation Industry Sta5 bilization Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF TITLE 49, UNITED STATES CODE. 

7 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

8 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 
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1 of an amendment to, or a repeal of, a section or other 

2 provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to 

3 a section or other provision of title 49, United States 

4 Code. 

5 SEC. 3. AVIATION INSURANCE. 

6 (a) AUTHORITY.—Section 44302(a)(1) is amended by 

7 striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’. 

8 (b) EXTENSION OF POLICIES.—Section 44302(f)(1) 

9 is amended by striking ‘‘August 31, 2003, and may extend 

10 through December 31, 2003,’’ and inserting ‘‘December 

11 31, 2007,’’. 

12 (c) COVERAGE.—Section 44303 is amended—

13 (1) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘IN GEN14 ERAL.—’’ and inserting ‘‘IN GENERAL.—’’; and 

15 (2) in subsection (b)—

16 (A) by striking ‘‘during the period begin17 ning on’’ and inserting ‘‘on or after’’; and 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘and ending on December 

19 31, 2003,’’. 

20 (d) TERMINATION DATE.—Section 44310 and the 

21 item relating to such section in the analysis for chapter 

22 443 are repealed. 
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1 SEC. 4. LOAN GUARANTEES AND LINES OF CREDIT FOR 

2 AVIATION FUEL COSTS. 

3 (a) EXTENSION OF APPLICATION PERIOD.—Notwith4 standing section 1300.16 of title 14, Code of Federal Reg5 ulations, or any other provision of law or regulation, appli6 cations for Federal credit instruments authorized by sec7 tion 101 of the Air Transportation Safety and System 

8 Stabilization Act (49 U.S.C. 40101 note; 115 Stat. 230) 

9 may be filed for a period of 30 days following the date 

10 on which the President authorizes the military to use force 

11 against the Republic of Iraq in calendar year 2003, and 

12 the Air Transportation Stabilization Board determines 

13 that an extraordinary increase in jet fuel prices (as defined 

14 in section 11(a)(3)) has occurred. 

15 (b) PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.—The Board shall pub16 lish a notice in the Federal Register announcing that ap17 plications may be filed under subsection (a) and another 

18 notice when the time for such applications will end. 

19 (c) LIMITATIONS ON FEDERAL CREDIT INSTRU20 MENTS.—A Federal credit instrument issued by the Board 

21 in accordance with this section shall—

22 (1) be for the purpose of allowing an air carrier 

23 to secure financial obligations to pay for its aviation 

24 fuel purchases for a period of 6 months or the pe25 riod that begins on the date the Board determines 

26 that an extraordinary increase in jet fuel prices has
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1 occurred and ends on the date that the Secretary 

2 of Transportation determines that the average price 

3 for jet fuel in calendar year 2003 is equal to or less 

4 than the average price reported by major air carriers 

5 for calendar year 2002, whichever period ends soon6 er; and 

7 (2) be for the actual increased aviation fuel cost 

8 incurred by the air carrier or a reasonable estimate 

9 of such cost over the average price of commercial 

10 aviation fuel reported to the Secretary of Transpor11 tation by air carriers during calendar year 2002, as 

12 determined by the Board. 

13 (d) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF FEDERAL CREDIT IN14 STRUMENTS.—The maximum amount of Federal credit in15 struments that may be issued by the Board in accordance 

16 with this section shall be $3,000,000,000. The Board shall 

17 establish a formula setting the maximum amount of Fed18 eral credit instruments that may be issued to any air car19 rier based on the percentage of gallons of aviation fuel 

20 consumed by that air carrier in proportion to the total 

21 gallons of aviation fuel consumed by all air carriers during 

22 calendar year 2002. 

23 (e) SPECIAL RULES.—

24 (1) LIMITATION ON APPLICABILITY.—Sections 

25 102(c), 102(d)(1), and 102(d)(2) of the Air Trans-
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1 portation Safety and System Stabilization Act (49 

2 U.S.C. 40101 note; 115 Stat. 231–232) shall not 

3 apply to Federal credit instruments to be issued in 

4 accordance with this section. 

5 (2) INCLUSION OF LINES OF CREDIT.—For pur6 poses of Federal credit instruments to be issued in 

7 accordance with this section, the term ‘‘Federal 

8 credit instrument’’, as used in section 107(2) of the 

9 Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization 

10 Act (115 Stat. 234), includes a line of credit and a 

11 guarantee of a line of credit issued by a third party. 

12 (3) TREATMENT OF TIME PERIOD.—The 2-year 

13 period referred to in section 104(a) of the Air 

14 Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act 

15 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note; 115 Stat. 233) shall be 

16 treated with respect to an application filed in accord17 ance with subsection (a) of this section as being the 

18 2-year period beginning on the date of enactment of 

19 this Act. 

20 (f) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section shall 

21 be construed as affecting an application filed before the 

22 date of enactment of this Act for a Federal credit instru23 ment authorized by section 101 of the Air Transportation 

24 Safety and Stabilization Act (49 U.S.C. 40101 note; 115 

25 Stat. 230). 
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1 (g) MAJOR AIR CARRIER DEFINED.—In this section, 

2 the term ‘‘major air carrier’’ has the meaning such term 

3 has under section 41720(a) of title 49, United States 

4 Code. 

5 SEC. 5. AIR MARSHALS. 

6 Not later than 90 days after all cockpit doors that 

7 are required to be strengthened under section 104(a) of 

8 the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (49 U.S.C. 

9 44903 note; 115 Stat. 605–606) are strengthened, the 

10 Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security 

11 of the Department of Homeland Security shall consider 

12 whether it is necessary to require Federal air marshals 

13 to be seated in the first class cabin of an aircraft with 

14 strengthened cockpit doors and report to Congress (in 

15 classified form if necessary) on the results of such recon16 sideration. 

17 SEC. 6. SCREENING OF MAIL. 

18 (a) IMPROVED SCREENING.—Not later than 30 days 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Under Sec20 retary for Border and Transportation Security of the De21 partment of Homeland Security shall undertake, without 

22 a decrease in aviation security, such action as may be nec23 essary to improve the screening of mail so that it can be 

24 carried on passenger flights of air carriers. 
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1 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the date 

2 of enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall trans3 mit to Congress a report on the Transportation Security 

4 Administration’s pilot program to determine whether ca5 nine teams can be used to screen mail before being placed 

6 aboard passenger-carrying aircraft. 

7 SEC. 7. REIMBURSEMENT OF AIR CARRIERS FOR CERTAIN 

8 SCREENING AND RELATED ACTIVITIES. 

9 The Under Secretary for Border and Transportation 

10 Security of the Department of Homeland Security, within 

11 available resources, shall reimburse air carriers and air12 ports for the following: 

13 (1) All screening and related activities that the 

14 air carriers or airports perform or are responsible 

15 for performing, including—

16 (A) the screening of catering supplies; 

17 (B) checking documents at security check18 points; 

19 (C) screening of passengers; and 

20 (D) screening of persons with access to 

21 aircraft. 

22 (2) The provision of space and facilities used to 

23 perform screening functions if such space and facili24 ties have been previously used, or were intended to 

25 be used, for revenue-producing purposes.
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1 SEC. 8. REIMBURSEMENT OF AIR CARRIERS FOR FOR2 TIFYING COCKPIT DOOR. 

3 The Under Secretary for Border and Transportation 

4 Security of the Department of Homeland Security shall 

5 reimburse air carriers for the cost of fortifying cockpit 

6 doors in accordance with section 48301(b) of title 49, 

7 United States Code. 

8 SEC. 9. REIMBURSEMENT OF AIR CARRIERS FOR CERTAIN 

9 LOSSES RESULTING FROM WAR WITH IRAQ. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 

11 shall reimburse an air carrier for any financial losses that 

12 the Secretary determines are attributable to the loss of 

13 air traffic resulting from the use of force against the Re14 public of Iraq in calendar year 2003. 

15 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

16 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec17 essary to carry out this section. 

18 SEC. 10. AIRLIFT SERVICES. 

19 Section 41106 is amended by adding at the end the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(e) COMPENSATION OF CONTRACTORS.—An airlift 

22 services contract entered into by the Secretary of Defense 

23 and an air carrier described in subsection (a) shall ensure 

24 that the air carrier is compensated for the positioning, de25 positioning, and other ferry portions of missions per26 formed under the contract.’’. 
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1 SEC. 11. STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE. 

2 (a) REQUIREMENT.—

3 (1) DRAWDOWN.—Notwithstanding any other 

4 provision of law, if the President authorizes the mili5 tary to use force against the Republic of Iraq in cal6 endar year 2003, the Secretary of Energy shall 

7 drawdown and distribute petroleum from the Stra8 tegic Petroleum Reserve in quantities of not less 

9 than 500,000 barrels per day, to the extent nec10 essary to remedy a dislocation in the jet fuel market 

11 or an extraordinary increase in the price of jet fuel. 

12 (2) DISLOCATION IN JET FUEL MARKET.—For 

13 purposes of paragraph (1), a dislocation in the jet 

14 fuel market occurs when the inventories of United 

15 States domestic jet fuel (as reported by the Depart16 ment of Energy) decrease by more than 25 percent 

17 over the previous 3-year rolling average. 

18 (3) EXTRAORDINARY PRICE INCREASE.—

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para20 graph (1) and section 4, an extraordinary in21 crease in the price of jet fuel occurs when the 

22 quotient exceeds by 50 percent the average 

23 price for jet fuel reported to the Secretary of 

24 Transportation by air carriers for 2002. 

25 (B) CALCULATION OF QUOTIENT.—For 

26 purposes of subparagraph (A), the quotient is 
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1 calculated by dividing by 2 the sum of the Gulf 

2 Coast and New York Harbor 5-day spot aver3 age prices of jet fuel. 

4 (b) CESSATION.— The Secretary of Energy may 

5 cease any drawdown under subsection (a) if the Secretary 

6 determines that—

7 (1) there no longer is any dislocation in the jet 

8 fuel market; or 

9 (2) in the case of a drawdown resulting from an 

10 extraordinary increase in the price of jet fuel, the 

11 quotient calculated under subsection (a)(3) no longer 

12 exceeds by 50 percent the average price for jet fuel 

13 reported to the Secretary of Transportation by air 

14 carriers for 2002.

15 SEC. 12. CARGO CARRIED ABOARD PASSENGER-CARRYING 

16 AIRCRAFT. 

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF WORKING GROUP.—The 

18 Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security 

19 of the Department of Homeland Security shall establish 

20 an air cargo security working group with industry experts 

21 from the Transportation Security Administration, pas22 senger airlines, indirect air carriers, shippers, small busi23 nesses, and other related groups to develop recommenda24 tions on the enhancement of the current known shipper 

25 program. 
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1 (b) DUTIES OF WORKING GROUP.—The working 

2 group shall analyze the effectiveness of the current known 

3 shipper program, develop recommended enhancements, 

4 and present its findings and recommendations to the 

5 Under Secretary. In developing its recommendations, the 

6 working group shall take into consideration the extraor7 dinary air transportation needs of small or isolated com8 munities and unique operational aspects of carriers that 

9 serve such communities. 

10 SEC. 13. FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO AIR CARRIER FINAN11 CIAL DIFFICULTIES. 

12 (a) ANALYSIS.—The Comptroller General shall ana13 lyze the factors contributing to the financial difficulties 

14 of air carriers for the purpose of determining possible ap15 proaches to alleviate such difficulties. 

16 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

17 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

18 transmit to Congress a report on the results of the anal19 ysis, together with recommendations.

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