U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Office of the -§~cretary of Transportation 

Richard D. Mathias 

GENERAL COUNSEL 

August: 16,. 2012 

Registered Mail-Return Receipt Requested 

Counsel for Trans American Airlines, S.A. d/b/a T ACA Pem 

Zuckert, Scoutt & Rasenberger, L.L.P. 

888 Seventeenth Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20006 

Re: Equivalent Alternative Determination 

Request Concerning 14 CFR 382.61 

Dear Mr. Mathias: 

This letter concerns the March 12, 2012, request• of Trans American Airlines, S.A. d/b/a 

TACA Peru (TACA Peru) for an equivalent alternative determination concerning the 

movable aisle armrest requirement contained in 14 CFR 382.61 of the Department's Air 

Carrier Access Act (ACAA) regulation for the business class seats in its Airbus A330 

aircraft. We are granting TACA Peru's equivalent alternative determinationrequest subject 

to the conditions discussed below. 

',, 

Section 382.6l(a) requires carriers to ensure that ."aircraft with 30 or more passenger seats 1 

on which passenger aisle seats have armrests are equipped with movable aisle armrests on at 

least one-half of the aisle seats in rows in which passengers with mobility impairments are 

permitted to sit under FAA or applicable foreign government safety rules." Section 

382.6l(c) notes that movable aisle armrests must be "provided proportionately in all classes 

of service in the cabin. "

2 Fmthermore, the Enforcement Office has interpreted movable aisle 

armrest as meaning an armrest on an aisle seat that completely moves. or folds out of the way 

while the seatback remains in an upright position to permit a passenger with a mobility 

impairment to safely make an unobstructed transfer (with assistance from carrier personnel 

1 The Department's Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings (Enforcement Office) has long held that 

the passenger seating capacity of an aircraft is the manufacturer's maximum designed seating capacity of a 

given aircraft type. Therefore, a carrier may not avoid compliance with the aircraft accessibility requirement 

of Part 382 by reducing the number of seats on an aircraft or ordering an aircraft with fewer seats than its 

designed seating capacity. For example, if a manufacturer designs an aircraft type to hold a maximum of 1 10 

passenger seats, the Enforcement Office would treat the aircraft as an aircraft with a passenger seating capacity 

of 110 even if a carrier stipulates that the aircraft is to be delivered with 99 seats or takes delivery of an aircraft 

with II 0 seats and then removes I I seats. 

1 For example, if 80 percent of the aisle seats in which passengers with mobility impairments may sit are in 

coach, and 20 percent are in first class, then 80 percent of the movable aisle armrests must be in coach, with 20 

percent in first class. 
if the passenger's physical ability necessitates such assistance) from an aisle wheelchair to 

his or her aitcraft seat. 

In its equivalent alternative determination request, TACA Pem states that its parent 

company, A vianca T ACA Holding s~A. (A vianca TACA), is also the parent company of 

Aerovias Del Continente Americana S.A Avianca (Avianca). TACA Peru states that its 

Airbus A330 aircraft are· presently operated by Avianca and were inclu>;fed in the equivalent 

alternative determination granted to Avianca on October 27, 2009. Avf~hca TACA carriers 

are currently undertaking efforts to efficiently manage their fleets. Both Avianca and TACA 

Peru plan to use the Airbus A330 aircraft in foreign air transportation. Because the 

equivalent alternative determination granted to A vianca is carrier specific, TACA Peru 

requests that a separate equivalent alternative determination be granted to TACA Peru or the 

existing equivalent alternative determination granted to Avianca that is applicable to the 

same Airbus A330 aircraft that T ACA Pem intends to operate be extended to include TACA 

Peru's operation of the aircraft. 

Before granting A vianca' s October 27, 2009, equivalent alternative determination, the 

Department reviewed Avianca's configuration diagrams, videos, and attended a presentation 

at Miami International Airport which demonstrated both a carrier-assisted and self-assisted 

transfer of a person with a mobility impairment from an aisle or boarding wheelchair to 

Avianca's business class seats. Based on the video, diagrams, and demonstration, the 

Department granted Avianca's request. TACA Peru seeks the same equivalent alternative 

determination granted to A vianca so that TACA Peru can ·operate the same aircraft. 

Accordingly, based on the information provided in TACA Peru's March 12, 2012, request, 

the Department is granting TACA Peru's request for an extension of the existing equivalent 

alternative determination granted to Avianca for section 382.61 for its business class seats in 

its Airbus A330 aircraft. This determination is applicable to TACA Peru's operation of the 

same aircraft that are encompassed in the A vianca determination with the following 

conditions: 

( 1) This approval is limited to the business class seats in the A vianca/T ACA Peru Airbus 

A330 aircraft with the configuration and dimensions provided in the carrier's March 

12, 2012, equivalent alternative determination request. TACA Peru must obtain the 

Department's prior approval for any seat configuration changes and/or seat 

dimension changes to be made on any aircraft that is subject to this approval. If 

'I: ACA Peru implements seat configuration and/or seat dimension changes without 

prior approval of the Department, it risks being in violation of section 382.61; 

(2) TACA Peru must provide, or ensure the provision of, specialized training to its 

employees and contractors, as well as the employees and contractors of any other 

entity that will be transferring persons with a mobility impairment to or from the 

business class seats in its Airbus A330 aircraft on or before February 28, 2013. The 

specialized training must ensure training to proficiency in how to properly transfer a 

passenger to and from TACA Peru's business class seats. Such training must also 

cover, at a minimum: (A) the proper use of all items needed to transfer a passenger 

2 
to and from the business class seats (e.g., transfer board and sling/harness); (B) the 

number of persons needed to perform the transfer; (C) how to properly operate the 

busines~-'' class seats ( e~g., location and use of control buttons); and (D) how to 

transfer a passenger to and frorp the business class seats in a safe and dignified 

manner; and 

(3) T ACA Peru must also: (A) provide, or ensure the provision ,:;pf, annual refresher 

training; (B) retain for three years individuals' training records d~fuonstrating that all 

persons required to receive initial and refresher training have done so; and (C) within 

30 days after each calendar qumter, for a period of three years, provide the 

Enforcement Office with copies of all complaints, if any, regarding passenger 

transfers to and from their business class seats in the covered aircraft. 

If you have any questions about this matter, please contact Michael Hallock or Kimberly 

Graber of my staff, or me, at (202) 366-9342. 

Sincerely, 

-~~-

Assistant General Counsel for 

Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings 

cc: David M. Endersbee 

3