O rder 2013

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

On the Eighteenth day of July , 20 1 3

Errata C orrected D ocket PrimeSport, Inc. Docket OST 20 13

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Violations of 49 U.S.C. §§ 41101 and 41712

and 14 CFR Part 380 Served July 18, 20 13

CONSENT ORDER

This consent order concerns violations of certain consumer protection provisions of the Department’s Public Charter regulations by PrimeSport , Inc. (PrimeSport)

. PrimeSport failed to apply for and receive approval from the Department prior to adv ertising and selling Public Charter flights , in violation of 14 CFR Part 380. Advertising and selling flights without an approved Public Charter prospectus constitutes engaging in air transportation as an indirect air carrier without Department a uthority in violation of 49

U.S.C. § 41101. These activities also constitute unfair and deceptive practice s and unfair

method s of competition in violation of 49 U.S.C. § 41712 and 14 CFR 380.27

. This

order directs PrimeSport to cease and desist from future violatio ns and assesses a compromise civil penalty of $ 60 ,000.

Public Charter operators must comply with the requi rements of 14 CFR Part 380 , which

is designed to protect charter passengers ’ money and expectations . These requirement s include a prohibition on advertising or selling charter flights unless there is in place an

app roved Public Charter prospectus demonstr ating that certain consumer protections,

includ ing financial security measures req uired by Part 380 , have been established

, 14 CFR 380.25(a)

.

PrimeSport is a Georgia

- based corporation that provides tickets and tour packages to special events

. Prior to a p plying for and receiving Public C harter authority from the Department , PrimeSport advertised roundtrip charter air transporta tion to the Pittsburgh

Steelers

- Minnesota Vikings NFL football game in London, which is scheduled to take place on September 30, 20 13. PrimeSport advertised these air charter packages on its website, www.primesport.com

. P rimeSport had not received Public Charter authority from the Department to hold out or conduct these flights prior to publis hing these

solicitations. Furthermore, PrimeSport s old air charter packages and r eceived money from

consumers p rior to obtain ing Public Charter authority

. PrimeSport therefore violated 14 CFR 380.25(a)

. PrimeSport

, by holding out and selling Public Charter service before2 filing and receiving Public Charter authority i n violation of 14 CFR Part 380, also violated 49 U.S.C. § 41101, which prohibits a company or person from engaging in air transportation without proper economic authority

. These violations als o constitute an unfair and deceptive practice and unfair methods of competition in violation of 49 U.S.C. § 41712 and 14 CFR 380.27.

In mitigation, PrimeSport asserts that, prior to selling and marketing any London Game travel packages, it entered into an agreement with the Pittsburgh Steelers that assigned PrimeSport as the Official Fan Travel partner of the Steelers for th e London game. PrimeSport states that it was provided the opportunity to secure the number of game tickets they required as well as p urchase 100 air seats on one of the official team charters. According to PrimeSport, it created a detailed package description of all the inclusions and submitted this to the Steelers for approval. PrimeSport states that

, after receiving the Steelers’ ap proval, it listed these packages for sale on its website, and the Steelers promoted the packages to their network of fans. PrimeSport states that a ll game tickets and air seats were pre

- pai d by PrimeSport to the Steelers and consumers were never at

financ ial risk.

The Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings ( Enforcement Office ) has carefully considered the information provided by PrimeSport

, but continues to believe that

enforcement action is warranted. I n order to avoid litigation and without adm itting or denying the alleged violations, PrimeSport agrees to the issuance of this order, which includes a compromise civil penalty assess ment of $ 60 ,000. This order also directs PrimeSport to cease and desist from further violati ons of 14 CFR Part 380 a nd 49 U.S.C. §§ 41101 and 41712. This compromise assessment is appropriate considering the nature and extent of the violations described herein and serves the public interest as a deterrent

to future violations by PrimeSport , as well as by other similarly situated companies and

persons

.

This order is issued under the authority contained in 49 CFR Part 1

.

ACCORDINGLY,

1. Based on the above discussion, we approve this settlement and the provisions of this order as being in the public interest;

2. We find that PrimeSport, Inc.

, violated 14 CFR 380.25(a) by advertising Public

C harter air transportation without having in place an approved Public Charter prospectus covering its Public Charter flights;

3. We find that by engaging in the conduct and violations de scribed above, PrimeSport, Inc.

, violated 49 U.S.C. § 41101 by engaging in air transportation without proper economic authority ;

4. We find that by engaging in the conduct described in paragrap h s 2 and 3 a bove, PrimeSport, Inc.

, engaged in an unfair and dec eptive practice and an unfair method of competition in violation of 49 U.S.C. § 41712 and 14 CFR 380.27 ;3 5. We order PrimeSport, Inc.

, and all other entities owned or controlled by or under the common ownership of PrimeSport, Inc.

, and its successors and ass ignees, to

cease and desist from further violations of 49 U.S.C. §§ 41101 and 41712 and 14

CFR Part 380 ;

6. PrimeSport, Inc.

, is assessed $ 60 ,000 in compromise of civil penalties that might

otherwise be assessed for the violations described in paragraphs 2 through 4

, above

. Of this total penalty amount, $30,000 shall be due and payable within 30 days from

the date of issuance of this order. The remaining portion of the civil penalty amount, $30,000, shall become due and payable immediately if, within one y ear of the date of issuance of this order, PrimeSport, Inc., violates this order’s cease and desist provisions or fails to comply with the order’s payment provisions, in which case PrimeSport, Inc., may be subject to additional enforcement action for viola tion of this order;

7. Failure to pay the compromise penalty as ordered shall subject PrimeSport, Inc., to the assessment of interest, penalty, and collection charges under the Debt Collection Act, and possible enforcement action for failure to comply with t his order; and

8. Payment shall be made through Pay.gov to the account of the U. S. Treasury in

accordance with the instructions contained in the Attachment to this order.

This order will become a final order of the Department 10 days after its service d ate unless a timely petition for review is filed or the Department takes review on its own

motion.

BY:

SAMUEL PODBERESKY

Assistant General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available

at www.regulations.gov