53310 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 199 / Friday, October 16, 2009 / Notices 

SUMMARY: The Department is publishing 

the following notice providing guidance 

on air carrier contract terms and policies 

relating to reimbursement of passenger 

expenses incurred in connection with 

lost, damaged or delayed baggage. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Nicholas Lowry, Attorney, Office of 

Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings 

(C–70), 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., 

Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366–9349. 

United States of America 

Department of Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

Washington, DC 

Guidance on Reimbursement of 

Passenger Expenses Incurred as a result 

of Lost, Damaged or Delayed Baggage 

Notice 

This notice is intended to give 

guidance to air carriers on their policies 

relating to the reimbursement of 

passengers’ expenses in cases where 

baggage has been lost, damaged or 

delayed. We have learned that a number 

of airlines have adopted policies that 

purport to limit reimbursement for such 

expenses in a variety of ways. 

These policies may be contained in 

contracts of carriage or, more often, in 

informal printed advisory handouts 

available from ticket counters or carrier 

agents. For example, we are aware of 

one such advisory handout that denies 

any reimbursement ‘‘for necessities’’ 

where the baggage is ‘‘expected’’ to 

reach the passenger within 24 hours of 

filing a delayed baggage report and 

limits reimbursement to actual expenses 

up to a fixed maximum amount per day 

after the first day. Also, some carriers 

may be providing reimbursement to 

passengers for incidental expenses 

incurred only after the outbound leg of 

a roundtrip. 

The Department’s baggage liability 

rule, 14 CFR part 254, contains no such 

limitations, and it is the enforcement 

policy of the Office of Aviation 

Enforcement and Proceedings (Aviation 

Enforcement Office) to consider any 

arbitrary limits on expense 

reimbursement incurred in cases 

involving lost, damaged or delayed 

baggage to violate part 254 and to 

constitute an unfair and deceptive 

practice and unfair method of 

competition in violation of 49 U.S.C. 

41712. Section 254.4 states that an air 

carrier ‘‘shall not limit its liability for 

provable direct or consequential 

damages [emphasis added]’’ relating to 

lost, damaged or delayed baggage to less 

than $3,300 per passenger. To meet the 

requirements of part 254 and the 

requirements implicit in 49 U.S.C. 

41712, carriers should remain willing to 

cover all reasonable, actual and 

verifiable expenses related to baggage 

loss, damage or delay up to the amount 

stated in part 254. 

Carriers should, therefore, review 

their contracts of carriage and any 

supplemental printed materials with 

respect to provisions for reimbursement 

of direct or incidental expenses related 

to baggage loss, damage or delay. These 

should not include terms setting 

arbitrary limits on reimbursement, apart 

from those set forth in part 254. If 

appropriate, carriers should promptly 

modify any printed documents, such as 

internal procedures and guidance and 

consumer informational materials, to 

conform to the Department’s rules and 

this guidance. After 90 days from the 

date of issue of this notice, the Aviation 

Enforcement Office will pursue 

enforcement action in appropriate cases 

where unlawful reimbursement policies 

are not corrected. Questions regarding 

this notice may be addressed to the 

Office of Aviation Enforcement and 

Proceedings (C–70), U.S. Department of 

Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave., 

SE., Washington, DC 20590. 

Dated: October 9, 2009. 

Dayton Lehman Jr., 

Deputy Assistant General Counsel for 

Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings. 

An electronic version of this 

document is available at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

[FR Doc. E9–24982 Filed 10–15–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Notice of Intent To Request Revision 

From the Office of Management and 

Budget of a Currently Approved 

Information Collection Activity, 

Request for Comments; Service 

Difficulty Report 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The FAA invites public 

comments about our intention to request 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) to approve a current information 

collection. Operators and repair stations 

are required to report any malfunctions 

and defects to the Administrator. 

DATES: Please submit comments by 

December 15, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carla Mauney on (202) 267–9895, or by 

e-mail at: Carla.Mauney@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 

Title: Service Difficulty Report. 

Type of Request: Extension without 

change of an approved collection. 

OMB Control Number: 2120–0663. 

Forms(s): 8070–1. 

Affected Public: A total of 7,695 

Respondents. 

Frequency: The information is 

collected on occasion. 

Estimated Average Burden per 

Response: Approximately 9 minutes per 

response. 

Estimated Annual Burden Hours: An 

estimated 6,107 hours annually. 

Abstract: The administrator has 

determined, based on evaluation of 

previous accidents arid other incidents, 

that certain events involving 

malfunctions and defects may be 

precursors to the recurrence of these 

accidents. As a result, operators and 

repair stations are required to report any 

malfunctions and defects to the 

Administrator. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments to the FAA 

at the following address: Ms. Carla 

Mauney, Room 712, Federal Aviation 

Administration, IT Enterprises Business 

Services Division, AES–200, 800 

Independence Ave., SW., Washington, 

DC 20591. 

Comments are invited on: Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the Department, 

including whether the information will 

have practical utility; the accuracy of 

the Department’s estimates of the 

burden of the proposed information 

collection; ways to enhance the quality, 

utility and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on respondents, including the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on October 8, 

2009. 

Carla Mauney, 

FAA Information Collection Clearance 

Officer, IT Enterprises Business Services 

Division, AES–200. 

[FR Doc. E9–24750 Filed 10–15–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–M 


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