U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

GENERAL COUNSEL 

November 6, 2012 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington. DC 20590 

of Transportation Certified Mail-Return Receipt Requested 

Roderick D. Margo 

Condon & Forsyth LLP 

190 I A venue of the Stars-Ste 850 

Los Angeles. California 90067 

Dear Mr. Margo: 

Re: Cont1ict of Laws Waiver 

Request Concerning Provisions in 

14 CFR 382.115 and 121.571 

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This letter concerns the September l 0, 2008, request of Qantas Airways Limited ( Qantast1;or 

conflict of laws waiver under section 382.9 of the Department of Transportation's Air ca;,.ier 

Access Act (ACAA) regulation~ 14 CFR Part 382 (Part 382). This letter addresses the on-board 

safety briefings provision in section 382.115(b). The Department has already responded to 

Qantas' request for an equivalent alternative determination concerning the service animal 

provisions contained in 14 CFR 382.117(d), as well as the movable aisle armrest requirements in 

14 CFR 382.61. and is continuing to review the carrier's requests concerning various other 

provisions of Part 382. For the reasons discussed below, we are granting Qantas' request tor a 

conflict oflaws waiver from section 382.115. 

Qantas asserts a possible conf1ict between sections 382.1 IS(b), and l21.57l(a)(3) and (4) of U.S. 

safety regulations, and clause 14.1.2 of Civil Aviation Order (CAO) 20.11. the Australian 

regulation on safety briefings. Section 382.115(b) prohibits a carrier from requiring an individual 

to have an individual safety briefing except as provided in section 382.115(a). Section 

382.115(a) states ··you must conduct an individual safety briefing for any passenger where 

required by 14 CFR l21.571(a)(3) and (a)(4). 14 CFR 135.117(b), or other FAA requirements." 

Sections 121.57l(a)(3) and (4) state that ''before each takeoff a required crewmember assigned to 

the night shall conduct an individual briefing of each person who may need the assistance of 

another person to move expeditiously to an exit in the event of an emergency'' unless the 

passenger has been given a briefing on a previous leg of a night in the same aircraft. On the other 

hand. the Australian safety regulation, Clause 14.1.2 of CAO 20.11. requires individual safety 

briefings on emergency procedures to be provided to all passengers with disabilities. More 

specifically, it states that ''the operator of an aircraft shall ensure that a handicapped person. and 

the person assisting the handicapped person, if any, is given [an] individual briefing appropriate 

to the needs of that person in the procedures to be followed in the event of emergency evacuation 

of the aircraft.'' 
'•' 

In the Section-by-Section Analysis of the conflict of laws provision in the preamble to the final 

mle (73 Fed. Reg. at 27646). and in section 382.9, we state that a foreign law that requires a 

foreign carrier to do something prohibited by Part 382, or that prohibits a foreign carrier from 

doing something required by Part 382, is an appropriate subject for a conflict of law waiver. 

Here, the conflict appears to be that Australian law requires carriers to provide individual safety 

briefings to all passengers with disabilities while U.S. law prohibits carriers from requiring an 

individual with a disability to have an individual safety briefing except in certain limited 

circumstances. As such, we are granting Qantas' conflict of law waiver request from the 

requirement in section 382.115 to mandate an individual safety briefing only when authorized by 

FAA regulations. 

If you have any questions about this matter, please contact Michael Hallock, Kathleen BlankRiether or Maegan Johnson. of my staff. at (202) 366-9342. You may also reach us by FAX at 

(202) 366-7152. 

Sincerely. 

Samuel Podberesky 

Assistant General Counsel for 

Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings 

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