U.S. Department of Transportation Office ofthe Secretary GENERAL COUNSEL November 6, 2012 1200 New JerseyAvenue, SE Washington. DC 20590

ofTransportation Certified Mail-Return Receipt Requested

Roderick D. Margo Condon & Forsyth LLP 190I Avenue ofthe Stars-Ste 850 Los Angeles. California90067

DearMr. Margo: Re: Cont1ict ofLaws Waiver Request Concerning Provisions in 14 CFR 382.115 and 121.571 :., -

This letter concerns the September l0, 2008, request ofQantas Airways Limited (Qantast1;or conflict of laws waiver under section 382.9 ofthe Department ofTransportation'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 armrestrequirements in 14 CFR 382.61. and is continuing to review the carrier's requests concerning various other provisions ofPart 382. For the reasons discussed below, we are granting Qantas' request tor a conflictoflawswaiverfrom section 382.115.
Qantas asserts apossible conf1ict between sections 382.1 IS(b), and l21.57l(a)(3) and (4) ofU.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 acarrier 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 takeoffarequired crewmemberassigned 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 passengerhasbeengiven abriefingon aprevious legofa nightin the same aircraft. Ontheother hand. the Australian safety regulation, Clause 14.1.2 ofCAO 20.11. requires individual safety briefings on emergency procedures to be provided to all passengers with disabilities. More specifically, it states that ''the operator ofan aircraft shall ensure that a handicapped person. and the person assisting the handicapped person, ifany, is given [an] individual briefing appropriate to the needs ofthat person in the procedures to be followed in the event ofemergency evacuation ofthe aircraft.''

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In the Section-by-Section Analysis ofthe conflict oflaws 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 lawrequires 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 safetybriefing only when authorized by FAAregulations.

Ifyou have any questions about this matter, please contact Michael Hallock, Kathleen BlankRiether or Maegan Johnson. ofmy staff. at (202) 366-9342. You may also reach us by FAX at (202) 366-7152.
Sincerely.

Samuel Podberesky Assistant General Counsel for

Aviation EnforcementandProceedings

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