I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 780

To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish consumer protections

for airline passengers, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 23, 1999

Mr. DINGELL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish consumer

protections for airline passengers, 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 ‘‘Passenger Entitlement

5 and Competition Enhancement Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) airline passenger complaints, as reported by

9 the Department of Transportation, have increased

10 substantially and continue to rise;
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1 (2) a series of recent events related to weather

2 and management-labor relations have heightened

3 concerns regarding airline passenger rights and wel4 fare;

5 (3) airline passengers should have more infor6 mation about their rights and the level of service to

7 which they are entitled;

8 (4) the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 was

9 intended to open markets and result in increased

10 competition and service for the United States public;

11 (5) airline competition benefits communities

12 and consumers and is under the jurisdiction of, and

13 should be promoted by, the Federal government;

14 (6) the Department of Transportation has pro15 posed rules to address complaints of unfair exclu16 sionary conduct engaged in by major air carriers

17 against new entrant air carriers, including drastic

18 price cuts and flooding the market with new low-fare

19 capacity;

20 (7) unfair exclusionary conduct hurts consum21 ers in the long run because it deprives the public of

22 the benefits of competition and alternative carriers;

23 (8) due to mergers and alliances, there is in24 creasing concentration within the airline industry
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1 and most major hub airports are dominated by one

2 carrier;

3 (9) the introduction of low-fare competition into

4 certain markets has enabled more consumers to fly

5 in those markets, resulting in enormous economic

6 growth for those communities;

7 (10) although the deregulation of the domestic

8 airline industry has led to lower fares for many air

9 travelers, the promised benefits of airline deregula10 tion have yet to be fully realized;

11 (11) the Secretary of Transportation would be

12 aided by additional authority to promulgate and en13 force standards of fair competition in the airline in14 dustry under section 41712 of title 49, United

15 States Code;

16 (12) studies by the General Accounting Office

17 and independent entities show that concentration in

18 the domestic airline industry continues to increase

19 and that, where such concentration exists, consum20 ers pay prices for air transportation more than 20

21 percent higher than consumers traveling in competi22 tive markets;

23 (13) in addition, the General Accounting Office

24 has identified a number of issues that the Depart25 ment of Transportation could address to lower bar-
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1 riers to entry and increase competition in the airline

2 market, such as slot restrictions and exclusive air3 port gate leases;

4 (14) of the more than 3,100 domestic air car5 rier slots at the 4 slot-controlled airports in the

6 United States, known as ‘‘high density airports’’—

7 (A) fewer than 45 slots are held collectively

8 by new entrant air carriers; and

9 (B) foreign carriers hold approximately

10 twice as many slots as new entrant air carriers;

11 (15) the Department of Transportation allowed

12 the established air carriers to retain a large portion

13 of their slots free-of-charge when the current ‘‘Buy14 Sell Rule’’ was instituted in 1985;

15 (16) access to slot-controlled airports is crucial

16 to establishing new air service in the heavily-traveled

17 eastern and midwestern markets and if carriers are

18 going to be able to increase services to markets

19 served by small hub airports and medium hub air20 ports, particularly in the Southeast and Midwest;

21 and

22 (17) the National Commission to Ensure a

23 Strong Competitive Airline Industry recommended

24 that the Federal Aviation Administration review the

25 rule that limits operations at high density airports
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1 with the aim of either removing these artificial limits

2 or raising them to the highest practicable level con3 sistent with safety requirements.

4 TITLE I—PASSENGER

5 PROTECTIONS

6 SEC. 101. AIRLINE PASSENGER PROTECTION.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 417 of

8 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the

9 end the following:

10 ‘‘§ 41716. Air carrier passenger protection

11 ‘‘(a) EMERGENCY PLANS.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An air carrier shall ensure

13 access to necessary services and conditions, including

14 food, water, restroom facilities, and emergency medi15 cal services for all passengers boarded on a flight

16 segment of the air carrier.

17 ‘‘(2) SUBMITTAL OF PLANS.—The Secretary of

18 Transportation shall require each air carrier to sub19 mit to the Secretary an emergency plan containing

20 a detailed description of actions that will be taken

21 by the carrier to comply with paragraph (1).

22 ‘‘(3) FAILURE TO SUBMIT PLANS.—The Sec23 retary shall suspend the authority of an air carrier

24 to provide air transportation if the carrier fails to

25 submit a plan in accordance with paragraph (2).
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1 The suspension shall continue until the carrier sub2 mits the plan.

3 ‘‘(4) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec5 retary shall issue final regulations to require plans

6 under paragraph (2).

7 ‘‘(b) NOTICE OF DELAYS.—An air carrier shall pro8 vide to each passenger on a flight segment of the carrier

9 sufficient and accurate notice, based on information rea10 sonably available to the carrier, of any potential or actual

11 significant delays in the departure or arrival of the flight

12 segment. Whenever possible, such notice shall be provided

13 before the passenger boards an aircraft.

14 ‘‘(c) EXCESSIVE DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL

15 DELAY.—

16 ‘‘(1) LIABILITY IMPOSED.—An air carrier shall

17 be liable to each passenger on an aircraft for an ex18 cessive departure or arrival delay of the aircraft.

19 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF LIABILITY.—

20 ‘‘(A) DELAYS OF MORE THAN 2 BUT LESS

21 THAN 3 HOURS.—If the excessive departure or

22 arrival delay is more than 2 but less than 3

23 hours, the amount of liability under paragraph

24 (1) shall be 200 percent of the price paid by the

25 passenger for transportation by the air carrier.
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1 ‘‘(B) DELAYS OF 3 HOURS OR MORE.—If

2 the excessive departure or arrival delay is 3

3 hours or more, the amount of liability under

4 paragraph (1) shall be—

5 ‘‘(i) the amount determined under

6 subparagraph (A), plus

7 ‘‘(ii) an additional 100 percent of the

8 price paid by the passenger for such trans9 portation multiplied by the number of

10 hours (or portion thereof) that such period

11 exceeds 3 hours.

12 ‘‘(3) EXCESSIVE DEPARTURE OR ARRIVAL

13 DELAY.—In paragraph (1), the term ‘excessive de14 parture or arrival delay’ means a period of time in

15 excess of 2 hours—

16 ‘‘(A) in the case of departure delay, begin17 ning when the door of an aircraft is closed at

18 an airport and ending when the aircraft takes

19 off from the airport or when the door of the air20 craft is open for deplaning of passengers at the

21 airport; and

22 ‘‘(B) in the case of arrival delay, beginning

23 upon touchdown of an aircraft at an airport

24 and ending when the door of the aircraft is

25 open for deplaning of passengers at the airport.
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1 ‘‘(4) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN DELAYS.—Not2 withstanding paragraph (3), a departure delay in ex3 cess of 2 hours shall not be treated as an excessive

4 departure delay for purposes of paragraph (1) if the

5 Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administra6 tion determines that the departure delay was the re7 sult of—

8 ‘‘(A) an air traffic control directive and

9 that the carrier did not receive notification that

10 it would receive such directive prior to the

11 scheduled departure time of the flight; or

12 ‘‘(B) a mechanical problem with the air13 craft or other safety concern.

14 ‘‘(d) LOST BAGGAGE.—An air carrier may not limit

15 its liability for provable direct or consequential damages

16 resulting from the disappearance of, damage to, or delay

17 in delivery of a passenger’s personal property, including

18 luggage, in its custody to an amount less than $2,500 per

19 passenger.

20 ‘‘(e) OVERBOOKING.—An air carrier shall provide, at

21 a minimum, to a passenger who is denied boarding invol22 untarily from an oversold flight segment on which the pas23 senger has a confirmed seat—

24 ‘‘(1) alternate transportation to the passenger’s

25 final destination; and
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1 ‘‘(2) if the scheduled arrival time of the alter2 nate transportation is not within 2 hours of the pas3 senger’s originally scheduled arrival time, a refund

4 or voucher for air transportation equal in value to

5 the amount paid by the passenger for the original

6 flight.

7 ‘‘(f) FLIGHT SEGMENT DEFINED.—In this section,

8 the term ‘flight segment’ means a flight segment in air

9 transportation.

10 ‘‘(g) FOREIGN AIR TRANSPORTATION.—Nothing in

11 this Act shall be construed to affect any treaty or other

12 provision of law regulating flight segments in foreign air

13 transportation.’’.

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec15 tions for such title is amended by inserting after the item

16 relating to section 41715 the following:

‘‘41716. Air carrier passenger protection.’’.

17 SEC. 102. CIVIL PENALTIES.

18 Section 46301(a) of title 49, United States Code, is

19 amended—

20 (1) in paragraph (6) by inserting ‘‘MAXIMUM

21 PENALTY FOR VIOLATIONS RELATING TO AIR SERV22 ICE TERMINATION NOTICES.—’’ before ‘‘Notwith23 standing’’;

24 (2) by aligning paragraph (6) with paragraph

25 (5) of such section; and
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1 (3) by adding at the end the following:

2 ‘‘(7) MAXIMUM PENALTY FOR VIOLATIONS RE3 LATING TO PASSENGER ACCESS TO NECESSARY

4 SERVICES AND CONDITIONS.—Notwithstanding para5 graph (1), the maximum civil penalty for violating

6 paragraph (1) or (2) of section 41716(a) shall be

7 $10,000 instead of $1,000.’’.

8 SEC. 103. PASSENGER RIGHTS PUBLICATION.

9 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment

10 of this Act, the Secretary shall, by rule—

11 (1) issue a statement that outlines consumer

12 rights of air passengers, including each of the rights

13 specified in section 41716 of title 49, United States

14 Code, as added by section 2 of this Act; and

15 (2) requires an air carrier to provide the state16 ment to each passenger of the carrier, by conspicu17 ous written material included—

18 (A) on a safety placard given to the pas19 senger on board an aircraft;

20 (B) on information available to the pas21 senger at each ticket counter of the air carrier;

22 and

23 (C) on or with the passenger’s ticket.
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1 TITLE II—AIR CARRIER

2 COMPETITION

3 SEC. 201. REDISTRIBUTION OF SLOTS BY AUCTION.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart III of part A of subtitle

5 VII of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding

6 at the end the following:

‘‘CHAPTER 455—SLOT AUCTIONS

‘‘Sec.

‘‘45501. General authority to create, withdraw, and auction slots.

‘‘45502. Auction.

‘‘45503. Special rules.

‘‘45504. Definitions.

7 ‘‘§ 45501. General authority to create, withdraw, and

8 auction slots

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation

10 shall allocate slots at each slot-controlled airport for as11 signment to new entrant air carriers and limited incum12 bent carriers in accordance with this chapter.

13 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION PROCESS—

14 ‘‘(1) REQUEST FOR SLOTS.—An air carrier with

15 appropriate Federal Aviation Administration safety

16 certification and Department of Transportation eco17 nomic certification may submit a request to the Sec18 retary for slots at a high density airport. The appli19 cation shall include—

20 ‘‘(A) the markets to be served;

21 ‘‘(B) the times requested;
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1 ‘‘(C) information on the passenger demand

2 for the service to be provided; and

3 ‘‘(D) such additional information as the

4 Secretary may require.

5 ‘‘(2) ACTION ON REQUEST; FAILURE TO ACT.—

6 Within 45 days after a request under paragraph (1)

7 is received by the Secretary, the Secretary shall—

8 ‘‘(A) approve the request for processing if

9 the Secretary believes that—

10 ‘‘(i) the applicant can operate the

11 service for a period of not less than 180

12 days; and

13 ‘‘(ii) the service will improve the com14 petitive environment; or

15 ‘‘(B) return the request to the applicant

16 for further information.

17 If the Secretary neither approves the request under

18 subparagraph (A) nor returns the request under

19 subparagraph (B) within the 45-day period begin20 ning on the date it is received, then the request is

21 deemed to have been approved on the 45th day.

22 ‘‘(c) ALLOCATION PROCESS.—

23 ‘‘(1) IF SLOTS ARE AVAILABLE.—If an applica24 tion under subsection (b) is approved for processing,
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1 the Secretary first shall allocate slots within 60 min2 utes of the requested times if—

3 ‘‘(A) unused slots are available; or

4 ‘‘(B) slots may be awarded through the ex5 emption process in accordance with the Federal

6 Aviation Administration’s air traffic priorities.

7 ‘‘(2) IF SLOTS ARE UNAVAILABLE.—If an appli8 cation under subsection (b) is approved for process9 ing but the requested slots are not available for allo10 cation under paragraph (1), then the Secretary may

11 withdraw slots under subsection (d) for auction

12 under section 45502 or create new slots.

13 ‘‘(d) WITHDRAWAL OF SLOTS FOR AUCTION.—

14 ‘‘(1) WITHDRAWAL OF EXISTING SLOT ASSIGN15 MENTS.—The Secretary shall withdraw, from major

16 carriers at each airport—

17 ‘‘(A) for the first auction under this sec18 tion, not more than 10 percent of the

19 auctionable slots assigned to such carriers at

20 that airport; and

21 ‘‘(B) for any subsequent auction under this

22 section, not more than 5 percent of the

23 auctionable slots assigned to such carriers at

24 that airport.
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1 ‘‘(2) FREQUENCY.—Auctions under this section

2 shall not be held more frequently than 24 months

3 after the date of the preceding auction.

4 ‘‘(3) AUCTIONABLE SLOTS.—For purposes of

5 this subsection, an auctionable slot is—

6 ‘‘(A) a slot assigned to an air carrier in

7 1985 that is still assigned to that air carrier, or

8 a slot received in even exchange with another

9 air carrier for a slot assigned to that air carrier

10 in 1985; and

11 ‘‘(B) any slot other than a slot used by a

12 major carrier to provide direct service to an air13 port that is a small or medium hub airport.

14 ‘‘(4) AUTHORITY TO WITHDRAW SLOTS FOR

15 USE INCONSISTENT WITH OBJECTIVES.—The Sec16 retary may withdraw an auctionable slot from a

17 major air carrier at any time if the Secretary deter18 mines in writing that the slot is being used by the

19 carrier in a manner inconsistent with the objectives

20 set forth in section 45502(c). Any slot so withdrawn

21 may be reassigned by the Secretary at any subse22 quent auction under this section.
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1 ‘‘§ 45502. Auction

2 ‘‘(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of

3 Transportation shall assign a slot to a qualified applicant

4 through the use of a system of competitive bidding.

5 ‘‘(b) USES TO WHICH BIDDING MAY APPLY.—A slot

6 may be assigned under this subsection if the Secretary de7 termines that the assignment of such slot will, or is rea8 sonably likely to, increase competition among air carriers

9 nationally, regionally, or in the markets affected by the

10 slot assignment in accordance with section 45501(b).

11 ‘‘(c) DESIGN OF SYSTEMS OF COMPETITIVE BID12 DING.—In identifying slots to be withdrawn for auction

13 under section 45501(d)(1), in specifying eligibility and

14 other characteristics of such slots, and in designing the

15 methodologies for use under this subsection, the Secretary

16 shall include safeguards to protect the public interest in

17 the use of the slots and shall promote the following objec18 tives:

19 ‘‘(1) Increasing competition in the provision of

20 air transportation in a way that benefits the public.

21 ‘‘(2) Promoting economic opportunity and com22 petition and ensuring that air transportation at com23 petitive rates and levels of customer service is read24 ily accessible to the American people by avoiding ex25 cessive concentration of slots among major air car26 riers.
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1 ‘‘(3) Recovery for the public of a portion of the

2 value of the slots made available by competitive bid3 ding and the avoidance of unjust enrichment

4 through the methods employed to award slots.

5 ‘‘(4) Efficient and intensive use of slots.

6 ‘‘(d) BIDDER QUALIFICATION.—No air carrier (other

7 than a new entrant air carrier or a limited incumbent car8 rier) may participate in a system of competitive bidding

9 under this section. No license shall be granted to an appli10 cant selected pursuant to this section unless the Secretary

11 determines that the applicant is qualified to utilize the slot

12 or slots to be so assigned.

13 ‘‘(e) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this

14 section, or in the use of competitive bidding, shall—

15 ‘‘(1) alter slots allocation criteria and proce16 dures established by the other provisions of this sub17 title;

18 ‘‘(2) diminish the authority of the Secretary

19 under the other provisions of this subtitle to regulate

20 or reclaim slots;

21 ‘‘(3) be construed to convey any rights, includ22 ing any expectation of renewal of a slot assignment,

23 that differ from the rights that apply to other slots

24 at the same airport that were not issued pursuant

25 to this section; or
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1 ‘‘(4) be construed to prohibit the Secretary

2 from issuing additional slots.

3 ‘‘(f) CONSIDERATION OF REVENUES IN PUBLIC IN4 TEREST DETERMINATIONS.—

5 ‘‘(1) CONSIDERATION PROHIBITED.—In making

6 a decision to assign slots pursuant to this section,

7 and in prescribing regulations pursuant to this sec8 tion, the Secretary may not base a finding of public

9 interest, convenience, and necessity on the expecta10 tion of Federal revenues from the use of a system

11 of competitive bidding under this section.

12 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION LIMITED.—In prescribing

13 regulations pursuant to this section, the Secretary

14 may not base a finding of public interest, conven15 ience, and necessity solely or predominantly on the

16 expectation of Federal revenues from the use of a

17 system of competitive bidding under this section.

18 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION OF DEMAND FOR

19 SLOTS.—Nothing in this subsection shall be con20 strued to prevent the Secretary from considering

21 consumer demand for slots-based services.

22 ‘‘(g) TREATMENT OF REVENUES.—

23 ‘‘(1) GENERAL RULE.—Except as provided in

24 paragraph (2), all proceeds from the use of a com25 petitive bidding system under this subsection shall
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1 be deposited in the Airport and Airway Trust Fund

2 established under section 9502 of the Internal Reve3 nue Code of 1986.

4 ‘‘(2) DEPOSIT AND USE OF AUCTION ESCROW

5 ACCOUNTS.—Any deposits the Secretary may require

6 for the qualification of any person to bid in a system

7 of competitive bidding pursuant to this subsection

8 shall be deposited in an interest bearing account at

9 a financial institution designated for purposes of this

10 subsection by the Secretary (after consultation with

11 the Secretary of the Treasury). Within 45 days fol12 lowing the conclusion of the competitive bidding—

13 ‘‘(A) the deposits of successful bidders

14 shall be paid to the Treasury;

15 ‘‘(B) the deposits of unsuccessful bidders

16 shall be returned to such bidders; and

17 ‘‘(C) the interest accrued to the account

18 shall be returned to each successful and unsuc19 cessful bidder in the ratio that the amount de20 posited by the bidder bears to the total amount

21 deposited by all bidders, except that before re22 turning such amounts the Secretary shall de23 duct a sum equal to the administrative expenses

24 incurred by the Secretary in conducting the
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1 auction and shall transfer such sum to the Air2 port and Airway Trust Fund.

3 ‘‘(h) EVALUATION.—Not later than 180 days after

4 the initiation of competitive bidding under this section, the

5 Secretary shall conduct a public inquiry and submit to the

6 Congress a report—

7 ‘‘(1) containing a statement of the revenues ob8 tained, and a projection of the future revenues, from

9 the use of competitive bidding systems under this

10 section;

11 ‘‘(2) describing the methodologies established

12 by the Secretary pursuant to subsections (c) and

13 (d);

14 ‘‘(3) comparing the relative advantages and dis15 advantages of such methodologies in terms of attain16 ing the objectives described in such subsections; and

17 ‘‘(4) recommending any statutory changes that

18 are needed to improve the competitive bidding proc19 ess.

20 ‘‘§ 45503. Special rules

21 ‘‘(a) RESALE OR REVERSION OF PURCHASED

22 SLOTS.—

23 ‘‘(1) RESALE.—A slot assigned by competitive

24 bidding under section 45502 may be—
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1 ‘‘(A) sold by the air carrier to which it was

2 assigned only to a new entrant air carrier or

3 limited incumbent carrier within 24 months of

4 the slot acquisition; or

5 ‘‘(B) leased to any new entrant air carrier

6 or limited incumbent carrier.

7 ‘‘(2) REVERSION.—A slot assigned by competi8 tive bidding under section 45502 that is lost by the

9 air carrier to which it was assigned under section

10 93.227 of title 14 of the Code of Federal Regula11 tions shall be returned to the Federal Aviation Ad12 ministration.

13 ‘‘(b) OTHER EXISTING SLOTS.—

14 ‘‘(1) EXPIRATION.—Any slot not withdrawn for

15 assignment under this chapter shall continue in ef16 fect until the earlier of—

17 ‘‘(A) the date on which it is subsequently

18 withdrawn for such assignment; or

19 ‘‘(B) the date on which it expires or is

20 withdrawn according to the terms of its assign21 ment.

22 ‘‘(2) FUTURE REVENUES.—Any amount paid

23 for assignment or use of an expired slot shall be

24 treated in accordance with the provisions of section

25 45502(h) as if received under that section.
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1 ‘‘§ 45504. Definitions

2 ‘‘In this chapter, the following definitions apply:

3 ‘‘(1) HIGH DENSITY AIRPORT.—The term ‘high

4 density airport’ has the meaning given it by section

5 41714(h)(2).

6 ‘‘(2) NEW ENTRANT AIR CARRIER; LIMITED IN7 CUMBENT CARRIER.—The terms ‘new entrant air

8 carrier’ and ‘limited incumbent carrier’ have the

9 meaning given such terms by section 93.213 of title

10 14, Code of Federal Regulations, except that the

11 term does not include an air carrier at a high den12 sity airport that has a substantial marketing ar13 rangement, as determined by the Secretary, with an14 other air carrier holding more than 10 percent of the

15 slots at the airport or an air carrier that is owned

16 or controlled, in whole or in part, by such a carrier.

17 ‘‘(3) MAJOR CARRIER.—The term ‘major car18 rier’ means an air carrier to which part 121 of such

19 title applies.

20 ‘‘(4) MEDIUM HUB AIRPORT.—The term ‘me21 dium hub airport’ means an airport that each year

22 has at least 0.25 percent, but less than 1.00 percent,

23 of the total annual boardings in the United States.

24 ‘‘(5) SLOT.—The term ‘slot’ has the meaning

25 given that term by section 41714(h)(4).
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1 ‘‘(6) SMALL HUB AIRPORT.—The term ‘small

2 hub airport’ has the meaning given that term by sec3 tion 41731(a)(5).’’.

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for such

5 subtitle is amended by inserting after the item relating

6 to chapter 453 the following:

‘‘455. SLOT AUCTIONS ......................................................................... 45501’’.

7 SEC. 202. PENALTIES FOR UNFAIR METHODS OF COMPETI8 TION.

9 Section 46301(a) of title 49, United States Code, as

10 amended by section 102 of this Act, is amended by adding

11 at the end the following:

12 ‘‘(8) MAXIMUM PENALTY FOR ENGAGING IN UN13 FAIR METHODS OF COMPETITION.—Notwithstanding

14 section 46301(a)(1), the maximum civil penalty for

15 violating section 41712 by engaging, with respect to

16 air transportation on any route, in an unfair method

17 of competition, as defined by regulation issued under

18 Docket Number OST–98–3713 or any other regula19 tion issued by the Department of Transportation,

20 shall be $10,000.’’.

21 SEC. 203. DISCLOSURE OF ROUTE COMPETITION AND CON22 SUMER VALUE INFORMATION.

23 (a) REPORTS RANKING AIR CARRIER ROUTES BY AV24 ERAGE COST TO PASSENGERS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall submit

2 to Congress, and make available to the public, a

3 quarterly report containing a ranking of the 10 do4 mestic routes with the highest average cost to the

5 passenger and the 10 domestic routes with the low6 est average cost to the passenger. The report shall

7 identify the airlines that operate on each of those

8 routes.

9 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—In developing reports

10 under this subsection, the Secretary shall consider

11 such factors and criteria as the Secretary considers

12 appropriate.

13 (b) REPORTS RANKING LARGE HUB AIRPORTS BY

14 MARKET CONCENTRATION.—The Secretary shall submit

15 to Congress, and make available to the public, a quarterly

16 report ranking the large hub airports by market con17 centration using the measure known as the Herfindahl18 Hirschmann Index and identifying the market share of

19 each airline operating at each of those airports.

20 (c) DEADLINE.—The Secretary shall begin submit21 ting reports under this section not later than 180 days

22 after the date of enactment of this Act.

23 SEC. 204. FACILITIES ACCESS.

24 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Transportation shall

25 conduct a study on the ability of and proposals for new
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1 entrant carriers, and carriers with less than 5 percent of

2 the departures at a major hub airport, to obtain perma3 nent gates and other facilities at the airport on terms sub4 stantially equivalent to the terms provided to incumbent

5 carriers at the airport.

6 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date

7 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit to

8 Congress a report containing the results of the study con9 ducted under subsection (a), including an assessment of

10 any impact of proposals referred to in subsection (a) on

11 State and local units of government.

Æ