Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 59 / Tuesday, March 27, 2012 / Notices 18305 

Bureau of Transportation Statistics 

(BTS), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice 

announces that the Information 

Collection Request (ICR) abstracted 

below is being forwarded to the Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB) for 

reinstatement of an expired approved 

collection. The ICR describes the nature 

of the information collection and its 

expected burden. The Federal Register 

Notice with a 60-day comment period 

soliciting comments on the following 

collection of information was published 

on January 27, 2011 (76 FR 4992). The 

Bureau of Economic Analysis at the 

Department of Commerce submitted 

comments in support of the 

continuation of the data collection. 

DATES: Written comments should be 

submitted by April 26, 2012. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff 

Gorham, Office of Airline Information, 

RTS–42, Room E34–414, RITA, BTS, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590–0001, 

Telephone Number (202) 366–4406, Fax 

Number (202) 366–3383 or email 

jeff.gorham@dot.gov. 

Comments: Send comments to the 

Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs, Office of Management and 

Budget, 725–17th Street NW., 

Washington, DC 20503, Attention: 

RITA/BTS Desk Officer. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

OMB Approval No. 2138–0013 

Title: Report of Financial and 

Operating Statistics for Large 

Certificated Air Carriers. 

Form No.: BTS Form 41. 

Type Of Review: Reinstatement of an 

expired approved collection. 

Respondents: Large certificated air 

carriers. 

Number of Respondents: 76. 

Estimated Time per Response: 4 hours 

per schedule, an average carrier may 

submit 90 schedules in one year. 

Total Annual Burden: 27,360 hours. 

Needs and Uses: Program uses for 

Form 41 data are as follows: 

Mail Rates 

The Department of Transportation 

sets and updates mainline Alaska mail 

rates based on carrier aircraft operating 

expense, traffic and operational data. 

Form 41 cost data, especially fuel costs, 

terminal expenses, and line haul 

expenses are used in arriving at rate 

levels. DOT revises the established rates 

based on the percentage of unit cost 

changes in the carriers’ operations. 

These updating procedures have 

resulted in the carriers receiving rates of 

compensation that more closely parallel 

their costs of providing mail service and 

contribute to the carriers’ ability to 

continue providing service. 

Submission of U.S. Carrier Data to 

ICAO 

As a party to the Convention on 

International Civil Aviation, the United 

States is obligated to provide the 

International Civil Aviation 

Organization with financial and 

statistical data on operations of U.S. air 

carriers. Over 99 percent of the data 

filed with ICAO is extracted from the 

carriers’ Form 41 reports. 

Carrier Fitness 

Fitness determinations are made for 

both new entrants and established U.S. 

carriers proposing a substantial change 

in operations. A portion of these 

applications consists of an operating 

plan for the first year (14 CFR part 204) 

and an associated projection of revenues 

and expenses. The carrier’s operating 

costs, included in these projections, are 

compared against the cost data in Form 

41 for a carrier or carriers with the same 

aircraft type and similar operating 

characteristics. Such a review validates 

the reasonableness of the carrier’s 

operating plan. 

Form 41 reports, particularly balance 

sheet reports and cash flow statements, 

play a major role in the identification of 

vulnerable carriers. Data comparisons 

are made between current and past 

periods in order to assess the current 

financial position of the carrier. 

Financial trend lines are extended into 

the future to analyze the continued 

viability of the carrier. DOT reviews 

three areas of a carrier’s operation: (1) 

The qualifications of its management 

team, (2) its disposition to comply with 

laws and regulations, and (3) its 

financial posture. DOT must determine 

whether or not a carrier has sufficient 

financial resources to conduct its 

operations without imposing undue risk 

on the traveling public. Moreover, once 

a carrier is operating, DOT is required 

to monitor its continuing fitness. 

Senior DOT officials must be kept 

fully informed as to all current and 

developing economic issues affecting 

the airline industry. In preparing 

financial conditions reports or status 

reports on a particular airline, financial 

and traffic data are analyzed. Briefing 

papers may use the same information. 

Pending Rulemaking 

On July 15, 2011, the Department 

published a Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to 

collect certain Form 41 revenue 

information on airline-imposed fees in a 

more detailed manner (see 76 FR 

41726). Many air carriers have adopted 

a la carte pricing with separate fees for 

certain optional services that use to be 

included in the ticket price. Carriers 

currently report excess baggage fees, 

reservation cancellation fees and 

miscellaneous operating revenues. The 

proposed rule would require carriers to 

report, (1) itinerary related fees, (2) 

seating assignment fees, (3) baggage fees 

broken down between first and second 

checked bags, carry-on bags and other 

bags, (4) unaccompanied minor/ 

passenger assistance fees, and (5) other 

fees. The Department wants to make 

airline pricing more transparent to 

consumers and airline analysts. 

Administrative Issues 

The Confidential Information 

Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act 

of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note) requires 

a statistical agency to clearly identify 

information it collects for non-statistical 

purposes. BTS hereby notifies the 

respondents and the public that BTS 

uses the information it collects under 

this OMB approval for non-statistical 

purposes including, but not limited to, 

publication of both Respondent’s 

identity and its data, submission of the 

information to agencies outside BTS for 

review, analysis and possible use in 

regulatory and other administrative 

matters. 

Issued in Washington, DC on March 20, 

2012. 

Patricia Hu, 

Director, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 

Research and Innovative Technology 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7300 Filed 3–26–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–HY–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Research & Innovative Technology 

Administration 

[Docket ID Number RITA 2008–0002] 

Agency Information Collection; 

Activity Under OMB Review; Report of 

Passengers Denied Confirmed 

Space—BTS Form 251 

AGENCY: Research & Innovative 

Technology Administration (RITA), 

Bureau of Transportation Statistics 

(BTS), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Public Law 104–13, the Bureau of 

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18306 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 59 / Tuesday, March 27, 2012 / Notices 

Transportation Statistics invites the 

general public, industry and other 

governmental parties to comment on the 

continuing need for and usefulness of 

BTS collecting reports on the number of 

passengers holding confirmed 

reservations that voluntarily or 

involuntarily give up their seats when 

the airline oversells the flight. 

Comments are requested concerning 

whether (a) the collection is still needed 

by the Department of Transportation, (b) 

BTS accurately estimated the reporting 

burden; (c) there are other ways to 

enhance the quality, utility and clarity 

of the information collected; and (d) 

there are ways to minimize reporting 

burden, including the use of automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. 

DATES: Written comments should be 

submitted by May 29, 2012. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Cecelia Robinson, Office of Airline 

Information, RTS–42, Room E34, RITA, 

BTS, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590–0001, 

Telephone Number (202) 366–4405, Fax 

Number (202) 366–3383 or email 

cecelia.robinson@dot.gov. 

Comments: Comments should identify 

the associated OMB approval # 2138– 

0018 and Docket ID Number RITA 

2008–0002. Persons wishing the 

Department to acknowledge receipt of 

their comments must submit with those 

comments a self-addressed stamped 

postcard on which the following 

statement is made: Comments on OMB 

# 2138–0018, Docket–RITA 2008–0002. 

The postcard will be date/time stamped 

and returned. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

OMB Approval No. 2138–0018 

Title: Report of Passengers Denied 

Confirmed Space. 

Form No.: BTS Form 251. 

Type of Review: Reinstatement of an 

expired approved collection. 

Respondents: Large certificated air 

carriers. 

Number of Respondents: 14. 

Number of Responses: 56. 

Total Annual Burden: 560 hours. 

Needs and Uses: BTS Form 251 is a 

one-page report submitted four times 

per year, on the number of passengers 

denied seats either voluntarily or 

involuntarily, whether these bumped 

passengers were provided alternate 

transportation and/or compensation, 

and the amount of the payment. U.S. air 

carriers that account for at least 1 

percent of domestic scheduled-service 

passenger revenues must report 

oversales on all operations with 30 seats 

or larger aircraft that depart a U.S. 

airport. 

Carriers do not report data from 

inbound international flights to the 

United States because the protections of 

14 CFR Part 250 Oversales do not apply 

to these flights. The report allows the 

Department to monitor the effectiveness 

of its oversales rule and take 

enforcement action when necessary. 

The involuntarily denied-boarding rate 

has decreased from 4.38 per 10,000 

passengers in 1980 to 0.71 for the 

quarter ended December 2011. Without 

Form 251, determining the effectiveness 

of the Department’s oversales rule 

would be impossible. The publishing of 

the carriers’ individual denied boarding 

rates has diminished the need for more 

intrusive regulation. The rate of denied 

boarding can be examined as a 

continuing fitness factor. This rate 

provides an insight into a carrier’s 

customer service practices. A rapid 

sustained increase in the rate of denied 

boarding may indicate operational 

difficulties. Because the rate of denied 

boarding is released quarterly, travelers 

and travel agents can select carriers with 

lower incidences of bumping 

passengers. This information is 

available in the Air Travel Consumer 

Report at: http://airconsumer.ost.dot.

gov/reports/index.htm. The Air Travel 

Consumer Report is also sent to 

newspapers, magazines, and trade 

journals. The public availability of this 

information deters carriers from setting 

unreasonable overbooking rates—a 

market-based mechanism that is more 

efficient than direct regulation of those 

rates. 

The Confidential Information 

Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act 

of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note) requires 

a statistical agency to clearly identify 

information it collects for non-statistical 

purposes. BTS hereby notifies the 

respondents and the public that BTS 

uses the information it collects under 

this OMB approval for non-statistical 

purposes including, but not limited to, 

publication of both Respondent’s 

identity and its data, submission of the 

information to agencies outside BTS for 

review, analysis and possible use in 

regulatory and other administrative 

matters. 

Issued in Washington, DC on March 20, 

2012. 

Patricia Hu, 

Director, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 

Research and Innovative Technology 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7303 Filed 3–26–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–HY–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Research & Innovative Technology 

Administration 

[Docket ID No. RITA 2008–0002] 

Agency Information Collection; 

Activity Under OMB Review; Airline 

Service Quality Performance 

AGENCY: Research & Innovative 

Technology Administration (RITA), 

Bureau of Transportation Statistics 

(BTS), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Public Law 104–13, the Bureau of 

Transportation Statistics invites the 

general public, industry and other 

governmental parties to comment on the 

continuing need for and usefulness of 

DOT requiring large certificated air 

carriers to file ‘‘On-Time Flight 

Performance Reports’’ and 

‘‘Mishandled-Baggage Reports’’ 

pursuant to 14 CFR 234.4 and 234.6. 

These reports are used to monitor the 

quality of air service that larger air 

carriers are providing the flying public. 

The Federal Aviation Administration 

uses the On-Time Flight Performance 

Reports to identify problem areas within 

the air traffic control system. 

DATES: Written comments should be 

submitted by May 29, 2012. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Cecelia Robinson, Office of Airline 

Information, RTS–42, Room E34, RITA, 

BTS, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590–0001, 

Telephone Number (202) 366–4405, Fax 

Number (202) 366–3383 or email 

cecelia.robinson@dot.gov. 

Comments: Comments should identify 

the associated OMB approval #2138– 

0041 and Docket ID Number RITA 

2008–0002. Persons wishing the 

Department to acknowledge receipt of 

their comments must submit with those 

comments a self-addressed stamped 

postcard on which the following 

statement is made: Comments on OMB 

# 2138–0041, Docket—RITA 2008–0002. 

The postcard will be date/time stamped 

and returned. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

OMB Approval No. 2138–0041. 

Title: Airline Service Quality 

Performance Reports—Part 234. 

Form No.: BTS Form 234. 

Type of Review: Reinstatement of an 

expired approved collection. 

Respondents: Large certificated air 

carriers that account for at least 1 

percent of the domestic scheduledservice passenger revenues. 

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