BEFORE THE 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

------------------------------------------------------ 

In the matter of: : 

 : 

Final Rule : 

Enhancing Airline : Docket No. DOT-OST-2007-0022 

Passenger Protections : 

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JOINT PETITION OF ATA, RAA, AND ACAA FOR RULEMAKING 

The Air Transport Association of America, Inc.,1

 the Regional Airline Association,2 and the Air 

Carrier Association of America submit this joint petition for rulemaking to change the time 

period for uploading flight information to a carrier’s website as required by the Department’s 

consumer protection final rule, published in the Federal Register at 74 FR 68983 on December 

30, 2009.3

 As this petition is supported by all part 234 “reporting” carriers, we ask the 

Department give it immediate consideration.4 

Under the December amendments to part 234, each reporting carrier is required to upload onto 

its website the following flight performance information on domestic flights, “...between the 

20th and 23rd day of the month after the month for which the information is being provided”: 

(1) the percentage of arrivals that were on time, i.e. a flight that arrives less than 15 minutes after 

its published arrival time, (2) the percentage of arrivals that were more than 30 minutes late, (3) 

special highlighting if the flight was more than 30 minutes late more than 50 percent of the time, 

and (4) the percentage of flight cancellations if 5 percent or more of the flight’s operations were 

canceled in the month covered.5 Uploading of flight performance information on websites will 

begin in July for June data. 

We request that the Department amend section 234.11(c) to change the upload date by deleting 

the text “...between the 20th and 23rd day...” and replacing it with “...by the end of the fourth 

 

1

 ATA airline members are: ABX Air, Inc.; AirTran Airways; Alaska Airlines, Inc.; American Airlines, Inc.; 

ASTAR Air Cargo, Inc.; Atlas Air, Inc.; Continental Airlines, Inc.; Delta Air Lines, Inc.; Evergreen International 

Airlines, Inc.; Federal Express Corporation; Hawaiian Airlines; JetBlue Airways Corp.; Southwest Airlines Co.; 

United Airlines, Inc.; United Parcel Service Co., and US Airways, Inc. ATA Airline Associate Members are: Air 

Canada; Air Jamaica Ltd.; and Mexicana. 

2

 RAA airline members are: Aerolitoral, Air Wisconsin Airlines Corp., AirNet Systems Inc., 

American Eagle Airlines, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Cape Air, Chautauqua Airlines, Colgan Air, Comair, 

CommutAir, Compass Airlines, Empire Airlines, Era Aviation, ExpressJet, GoJet, Grand Canyon Airlines/Scenic, 

Great Lakes Aviation, Gulfstream Int'l Airlines, Horizon Air, Island Air, Jazz Air, Lynx Aviation, Inc., 

Mesaba Aviation, New England Airlines, Piedmont Airlines, Pinnacle Airlines, Inc., PSA Airlines, 

Republic Airlines, Shuttle America, SkyWest Airlines, Inc., and Trans States Airlines. 3

 See 14 CFR 234.11(c). 

4

 Section 14 CFR 234.3 defines a “reporting” carrier and each qualifying carrier is listed in Technical 

Directive 19, under Section II, Applicability. We note that ATA, RAA, and ACAA include all reporting carriers 

except Mesa, which indicated to us its support for this petition. 

5

 See 14 CFR 234.11(b) & (c), 74 FR 69002. 
Saturday...” The practical effect of this change would be, for example, to move the website 

upload date from July 20-23, 2010 to July 24, 2010 for the first reporting period. This change 

would further the Department’s goal of having all carriers upload flight information at the same 

time, thus ensuring passengers are comparing flight performance data from the same time period. 

However, it also would allow carriers to follow standard industry practice of updating flight 

information such as schedule changes every Saturday evening. Loading flight performance data 

at the same time would be in the public interest because it would promote data congruity, 

consolidate data uploads, and reduce the potential for errors. 

We request the fourth Saturday of the month to avoid a conflict with part 234 requirements to 

file other BTS data on the 15th of the month. For example, the third Saturday of each month is 

not a viable option because sometimes the 15th of the month is the third Saturday. This raises 

two concerns. First, when the 15th falls on a weekend or federal government holiday, carrier 

BTS reporting data is due the next working day.6

 Therefore, when the 15th falls on a weekend 

day, BTS reporting data is not due until Monday and consequently the website upload 

information would actually be due before all other BTS reported data. May 2010, January 2011, 

and October 2011 are good examples of this conflict. Second, even if the first conflict did not 

exist, it would be unduly burdensome for a carrier to file BTS required information on the same 

day as having to upload information on a carrier’s website because the same technical personnel 

and resources are used for both activities. Because the fourth Saturday of the month will never 

also be the 15th, carriers will avoid these potential conflicts if the requested relief is granted. 

As the first reporting period is approaching, we request that the Department consider this petition 

on an expedited basis. 

Respectfully submitted, 

 

Douglas Mullen 

Senior Attorney Regulatory Affairs 

Air Transport Association of America, Inc. 

1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 

Washington, DC 20004 

202-626-4000 

dmullen@airlines.org 

May 7, 2010 

 

6

 See Technical Directive 19, Section VI. Submission of Reports, paragraph (3), “Due Dates.” 

2