Order 2012-11-6

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

On the Eighth day of November, 2012

AeroSvit Airlines Docket OST 2012-0002

 Served November 8, 2012

Violations of 14 CFR Part 382 and 

 49 U.S.C. § 41705

 

CONSENT ORDER

This order concerns violations by AeroSvit Airlines (AeroSvit) of the requirements of 14 

CFR Part 382 (Part 382) with respect to the filing of annual reports detailing disabilityrelated complaints that AeroSvit received from passengers in calendar years 2008 and 2011. 

Part 382 implements the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), 49 U.S.C. § 41705, and 

violations of Part 382 also violate the ACAA. This order directs AeroSvit to cease and 

desist from future similar violations of Parts 382 and the ACAA and assesses the carrier a 

compromise civil penalty of $20,000.

APPLICABLE LAW

Under 14 CFR 382.157, covered carriers (i.e., U.S. and foreign air carriers operating 

passenger service to, from, or within the United States with at least one aircraft having a 

design capacity of more than 60 passenger seats) must, among other things, submit an 

annual report to the U.S. Department of Transportation (Department) summarizing the 

disability-related complaints that they received during the previous calendar year.1 The 

 1 In addition, the rule requires a carrier to record complaints that it receives alleging discrimination or 

inadequate accessibility on the basis of a disability. The complaints are to be categorized according to the 

passenger’s type of disability and the nature of the complaint. The rule also requires that covered carriers 
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annual report to the Department is due each year on the last Monday in January. The 

annual report for calendar year 2011 was due on January 30, 2012, and the annual report 

for calendar year 2008 was due on January 26, 2009. 

The ACAA requires, among other things, that the Secretary of Transportation “regularly 

review all complaints received by air carriers alleging discrimination on the basis of 

disability and report annually to Congress on the results of such review,” and to ensure 

that consumers can compare the overall disability complaints filed against a particular 

carrier. The Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings (Enforcement Office) has 

made efforts to ensure that carriers file disability-related reports in compliance with 

section 382.157, including providing carriers and carrier associations information about 

the disability reporting requirements and posting a copy of the disability reporting rule on 

its Aviation Consumer Protection Division’s website.

FACTS AND CONCLUSIONS

AeroSvit is a foreign air carrier based in Kiev, Ukraine, that operates scheduled service to 

and from the United States using at least one aircraft having a design seating capacity of 

more than 60 passenger seats. AeroSvit’s operations into the United States clearly fall 

within the scope of the reporting rule. Therefore, AeroSvit violated section 382.157(d)

and the ACAA when it submitted to the Department the report for calendar year 2011 on

February 17, 2012, eighteen dates late, and the report for calendar year 2008 on February 

25, 2009, four weeks late. Additionally, we note that, in June 2009 AeroSvit was warned 

that a subsequent failure to file the annual report in a timely manner could result in 

enforcement action. 

MITIGATION

AeroSvit states that disruptions in the timely submission of AeroSvit’s reports under 14 

CFR Part 382 cited by the Department are not indicative of a pattern of noncompliance 

with applicable regulations, but rather they are results of unfortunate administrative and 

technical “glitches” in the established internal reporting system. According to AeroSvit,

following the 2008 reporting delay that was due to a lack of continuity after a personnel 

change, AeroSvit made significant improvements to its procedures and set up a series of 

safeguards in order to ensure timely submission of the report detailing disability-related 

complaints required under 14 CFR Part 382, including implementation of a set of 

electronic reminders and conducting extensive personnel training. AeroSvit asserts that 

the carrier’s focus was on ensuring continuity in the reporting function during the process 

of personnel changes and transitions from one responsible employee to another, and as a

result of those measures AeroSvit successfully submitted timely reports for calendar 

years 2009 and 2010.

AeroSvit also asserts that the delay in the submission of the report for 2011 resulted from 

a technical disruption in the functioning of AeroSvit’s Customer Feedback Management 

 

retain a copy of each disability-related complaint that the carrier receives and a record of the action taken 

on the complaint for three years. 
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(Crane 4C) system and a subsequent failure in the established employee 

reminder/notification mechanism due to overreliance on the electronic system of 

notifications. The carrier notes that the delay in the submission of the 2011 report 

revealed a vulnerability in the system that was established in 2009, since it over-relied on 

computer notifications, in the absence of which responsible personnel did not act on the 

deadlines appropriately. Based on the aforementioned information, AeroSvit states that it 

has undertaken steps to establish further safeguards against possible impacts of technical, 

human or any other factors on the timeliness of the required reporting.

DECISION

The Enforcement Office has carefully considered the information provided by AeroSvit

and continues to believe that enforcement action is warranted. We view seriously 

AeroSvit’s failure to file the annual reports on time as required by section 382.157(d). In 

order to avoid litigation, the Enforcement Office and AeroSvit have reached a settlement 

of this matter and enter into a consent order directing AeroSvit to cease and desist from 

future similar violations of 14 CFR Parts 382 and 49 U.S.C. § 41705, and to the 

assessment of $20,000 in compromise of potential civil penalties otherwise due and 

payable pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 46301. 

This compromise assessment is appropriate considering the nature and extent of the 

violations described herein and serves the public interest. It represents an adequate

deterrent against future non-compliance with the Department’s reporting requirements by 

AeroSvit, as well as by other domestic and foreign air carriers.

This order is issued under the authority contained in 49 CFR Part 1.

ACCORDINGLY,

1. Based on the above information, we approve this settlement and the provisions of this 

order as being in the public interest;

2. We find that AeroSvit Airlines violated 14 CFR 382.157 by failing to timely submit to 

the Department of Transportation its annual reports detailing the disability-related 

complaints it received in calendar years 2008 and 2011; 

3. We find that by engaging in the conduct and violations described in ordering 

paragraph 2, above, AeroSvit Airlines also violated the Air Carrier Access Act, 49 

U.S.C. § 41705;

4. AeroSvit Airlines and all other entities owned or controlled by AeroSvit Airlines, its 

successors and assigns, are ordered to cease and desist from further violations of 14 

CFR 382.157 and 49 U.S.C. § 41705;

5. AeroSvit Airlines is assessed $20,000 in compromise of civil penalties that might 

otherwise be assessed for the violations found in ordering paragraph 2 through 4, 

above. Of this total penalty amount, $10,000 shall be due and payable within forty-
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five (45) days of the date of the issuance of this order. The remaining $10,000 shall 

become due and payable if AeroSvit Airlines violates 14 CFR 382.157 within one 

year following the date of issuance of this order, or fails to comply with this order’s 

payment provisions, in which case the entire unpaid portion of the civil penalty shall 

become due and payable immediately, and AeroSvit Airlines may be subject to 

additional enforcement action for failure to comply with this order; and

6. We order AeroSvit Airlines to pay the penalty through Pay.gov to the account of the 

U.S. Treasury. Payment shall be made in accordance with the instructions contained 

in the Attachment to this order. Failure to pay the penalty as ordered shall subject 

AeroSvit Airlines to the assessment of interest, penalty, and collection charges under 

the Debt Collection Act and to further enforcement action for failing to comply with 

this order.

This order will become a final order of the Department 10 days after its service date 

 unless a timely petition for review is filed or the Department takes review on its own 

 motion.

BY:

 SAMUEL PODBERESKY

Assistant General Counsel for

 Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings

An electronic version of this document is available at

www.regulations.gov