I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1030

To establish a commission to study the airline industry and to recommend

policies to ensure consumer information and choice.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 9, 1999

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

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To establish a commission to study the airline industry and

to recommend policies to ensure consumer information

and choice.

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 ‘‘Improved Consumer

5 Access to Travel Information Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL COMMISSION TO ENSURE CONSUMER IN7 FORMATION AND CHOICE IN THE AIRLINE IN8 DUSTRY.

9 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) The continued success of a deregulated air2 line system requires that consumers have full access

3 to complete information concerning airline fares,

4 routes, and other services.

5 (2) The means of distributing information

6 about the products and services of the airline indus7 try are changing; during the past four years, airlines

8 have begun selling a larger percentage of their prod9 ucts and services directly to consumers, and Internet

10 businesses are now offering services that allow con11 sumers to compare prices for these products and

12 services.

13 (3) Airline policies with respect to travel agen14 cies, who historically have sold a majority of the air15 line industry’s products and services, threaten the

16 ability of consumers to gather the information nec17 essary to evaluate market prices, routes, and serv18 ices.

19 (4) Further reductions in the number of travel

20 agents and greater marketplace reliance on direct

21 airline sales may result in a marketplace in which

22 consumers lack sufficient information and are there23 by forced to pay higher prices.

24 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com25 mission to be known as the ‘‘National Commission to En-
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1 sure Consumer Information and Choice in the Airline In2 dustry’’ (hereinafter in this section referred to as the

3 ‘‘Commission’’).

4 (c) DUTIES.—

5 (1) STUDY.—The Commission shall undertake a

6 study of—

7 (A) consumer access to information about

8 the products and services of the airline indus9 try;

10 (B) the effect on the marketplace of the

11 emergence of new means of distributing such

12 products and services;

13 (C) the effect on consumers of the declin14 ing financial condition of travel agents in the

15 United States; and

16 (D) the impediments imposed by the air17 line industry on distributors of the industry’s

18 products and services, including travel agents

19 and Internet-based distributors.

20 (2) POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS.—Based on the

21 results of the study described in paragraph (1), the

22 Commission shall recommend to the President and

23 Congress policies necessary—
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1 (A) to ensure full consumer access to com2 plete information concerning airline fares,

3 routes, and other services;

4 (B) to ensure that the means of distribut5 ing the products and services of the airline in6 dustry, and of disseminating information about

7 such products and services, is adequate to en8 sure that competitive information is available in

9 the marketplace;

10 (C) to ensure that distributors of the prod11 ucts and services of the airline industry have

12 adequate relief from illegal, anticompetitive

13 practices that occur in the marketplace; and

14 (D) to foster healthy competition in the

15 airline industry and the entry of new entrants.

16 (d) SPECIFIC MATTERS TO BE ADDRESSED.—In car17 rying out the study authorized under subsection (c)(1), the

18 Commission shall specifically address the following:

19 (1) CONSUMER ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—

20 With respect to consumer access to information re21 garding the services and products offered by the air22 line industry:

23 (A) The state of such access.

24 (B) The effect in the next 5 years of the

25 making of alliances in the airline industry.
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1 (C) Whether and to what degree the trends

2 regarding such access will produce benefits to

3 consumers.

4 (2) MEANS OF DISTRIBUTION.—With respect to

5 the means of distributing the products and services

6 of the airline industry:

7 (A) The state of such means of distribu8 tion.

9 (B) The roles played by travel agencies

10 and Internet-based providers of travel informa11 tion and services in distributing such products

12 and services.

13 (C) Whether the policies of the United

14 States promote the access of consumers to mul15 tiple means of distribution.

16 (3) AIRLINE RESERVATION SYSTEMS.—With re17 spect to airline reservation systems:

18 (A) The rules, regulations, policies, and

19 practices of the industry governing such sys20 tems.

21 (B) How trends in such systems will affect

22 consumers, including—

23 (i) the effect on consumer access to

24 flight reservation information; and
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1 (ii) the effect on consumers of the use

2 by the airline industry of penalties and

3 promotions to convince distributors to use

4 such systems, and the degree of consumer

5 awareness of such penalties and pro6 motions.

7 (4) LEGAL IMPEDIMENTS TO DISTRIBUTORS

8 SEEKING RELIEF FOR ANTICOMPETITIVE ACTIONS.—

9 The policies of the United States with respect to the

10 legal impediments to distributors seeking relief for

11 anticompetitive actions, including—

12 (A) Federal preemption of civil actions

13 against airlines; and

14 (B) the role of the Department of Trans15 portation in enforcing rules against anti16 competitive practices.

17 (e) MEMBERSHIP.—

18 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Commission shall be

19 composed of 15 voting members and 11 nonvoting

20 members as follows:

21 (A) 5 voting members and 1 nonvoting

22 member appointed by the President.

23 (B) 3 voting members and 3 nonvoting

24 members appointed by the Speaker of the

25 House of Representatives.
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1 (C) 2 voting members and 2 nonvoting

2 members appointed by the minority leader of

3 the House of Representatives.

4 (D) 3 voting members and 3 nonvoting

5 members appointed by the majority leader of

6 the Senate.

7 (E) 2 voting members and 2 nonvoting

8 members appointed by the minority leader of

9 the Senate

10 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—Voting members ap11 pointed pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be ap12 pointed from among individuals who are experts in

13 economics, service product distribution, or transpor14 tation, or any related discipline, and who can rep15 resent consumers, passengers, shippers, travel

16 agents, airlines, or general aviation.

17 (3) TERMS.—Members shall be appointed for

18 the life of the Commission.

19 (4) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission

20 shall be filled in the manner in which the original

21 appointment was made.

22 (5) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Members shall serve

23 without pay but shall receive travel expenses, includ24 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance
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1 with subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United

2 States Code.

3 (6) CHAIRMAN.—The President, in consultation

4 with the Speaker of the House of Representatives

5 and the majority leader of the Senate, shall des6 ignate the Chairman of the Commission from among

7 its voting members.

8 (f) COMMISSION PANELS.—The Chairman shall es9 tablish such panels consisting of voting members of the

10 Commission as the Chairman determines appropriate to

11 carry out the functions of the Commission.

12 (g) STAFF.—The Commission may appoint and fix

13 the pay of such personnel as it considers appropriate.

14 (h) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon request

15 of the Commission, the head of any department or agency

16 of the United States may detail, on a reimbursable basis,

17 any of the personnel of that department or agency to the

18 Commission to assist it in carrying out its duties under

19 this section.

20 (i) OTHER STAFF AND SUPPORT.—Upon the request

21 of the Commission, or a panel of the Commission, the Sec22 retary of Transportation shall provide the Commission or

23 panel with professional and administrative staff and other

24 support, on a reimbursable basis, to assist the Commission

25 or panel in carrying out its responsibilities.
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1 (j) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commission

2 may secure directly from any department or agency of the

3 United States information (other than information re4 quired by any statute of the United States to be kept con5 fidential by such department or agency) necessary for the

6 Commission to carry out its duties under this section.

7 Upon request of the Commission, the head of that depart8 ment or agency shall furnish such nonconfidential infor9 mation to the Commission.

10 (k) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the date

11 on which initial appointments of members to the Commis12 sion are completed, the Commission shall transmit to the

13 President and Congress a report on the activities of the

14 Commission, including recommendations made by the

15 Commission under subsection (c)(2).

16 (l) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate

17 on the 30th day following the date of transmittal of the

18 report under subsection (k). All records and papers of the

19 Commission shall thereupon be delivered by the Adminis20 trator of General Services for deposit in the National Ar21 chives.

22 (m) APPLICABILITY OF THE FEDERAL ADVISORY

23 COMMITTEE ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act

24 (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Commission.

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