Office of Aviation Enforcement 

and Proceedings

Sixth Meeting of the Advisory Committee 

for Aviation Consumer Protection

October 29, 2014 
Enforcement Office Update

Overview

Enforcement Activities

Active Rulemakings
Enforcement Office Subject Matter Areas

Consumer Protection

• Advertising

• Baggage Liability - Minimum Limits - U.S./International Air 

Travel

• Codeshare Disclosure to Consumers (Internet, Telephone 

Sales, etc.)

• Denied Boarding Compensation for Oversales

• Lengthy Tarmac Delays

• Timely Refunds
Subject Matter Areas (Continued)

Civil Rights

• Discrimination based on a Disability

• Discrimination on Other Basis

Licensing and Fitness Matters

• Cabotage

• Public Charters

• Unlicensed common carriage operations
Enforcement Actions

Enforcement Process

• Formal (Public Proceeding)

• Informal (More Common; Generally Only Outcome 

becomes Public)

Outcomes

• No violation

• Warning letter

• Consent cease and desist order

• Revocation or modification of economic authority

• Permanent or temporary ban on specific individuals 

from involvement in aviation industry

• Criminal (knowing and willful violations)
On-site Compliance Inspections

• Since 2008, about 30 inspections

• Inspections of U.S. and foreign air carriers; public 

charter operators 

• 18 consent orders (≈ $3.3M) to date

• Average five inspections per year; Number of 

inspections depends on funding considerations

• Usually a four person team 

• Comprehensive in scope
Ongoing Compliance Initiatives

CONSUMER I and II RULES 

• Posting of Customer Service and Tarmac Delay Plans

• Timely Responses to Complaints

• Disclosure of Optional Service Fees

• Full Fare Advertising
Ongoing Compliance Initiatives (Continued)

LONG ON-BOARD TARMAC DELAYS

• Self-Reported

• Consumer Complaints

CODE-SHARE DISCLOSURE

• Continues to be an area of focus
Compliance with Tarmac Delay Rule

• Sixteen Orders against U.S. and Foreign Air Carriers 

Issued

• Over $3.5 Million in Fines; Amount includes Offsets 

for vouchers, refunds, miles provided by the carrier to 

passengers
Compliance with Tarmac Delay Rule 

(Continued)

Categories of Orders:

• Excessive time on tarmac/failure to deplane (5)

• Excessive time on tarmac/failure to deplane plus failure to 

provide food and water (4)

• Failure to provide notification of opportunity to deplane (5)

• Failure to provide food (1)

• Excessive time on tarmac and failure to provide notification 

of opportunity to deplane (1)
Codeshare Disclosure Compliance

• Direct Air Carriers

• Ticket Agents 

• Online and Brick and Mortar

• Internet Itinerary Displays and Telephone Reservation 

Lines

• 10 Consent Orders

• ~ $750,000 in penalties
Consent Orders By Year/Category

Total Orders

2010 2011 2012 2013

Thru Oct. 

2014 By Category

Advertising 18 21 17 10 7 73

Unauthorized 

Operations 11 6 8 2 3 30

Civil Rights 7 5 5 3 0 20

Other 

Consumer 9 24 24 25 11 93

Reporting 6 1 0 2 1 10

Multiple 

Categories 1 2 8 4 0 15

Total Orders 

By Year: 52 59 62 46 22 241

Total Civil Penalties Assessed in Orders through October 2014: $2,615,000
Rulemaking

• Recent Final Rules

• Consumer Protection Rules (Voice Call ANPRM; 

Consumer Rule 3 NPRM; E-Cigarette Pending Final 

Rule)

• Disability Related Rules
Rulemaking – Recent Final 

Rules
Accessible Websites and Automated Kiosks 

in U.S. Airports

• Issued November 2013

• Carriers must make websites they operate and on which 

their agents sell air transportation 

accessible to people with disabilities

• Carriers and U.S. airports must ensure automated kiosks 

operated by carriers at U.S. airports are accessible
Accessibility Effective Dates for Websites

• December 12, 2015 - Certain core air travel services and 

information on carriers’ primary website must be 

accessible 

• December 12, 2016 – Remaining pages on primary 

website must be accessible
Automated Airport Kiosk Accessibility 

Effective Dates

For Airlines:

• December 12, 2016 - all proprietary and shared-use 

kiosks installed at an airport must be accessible until 

25 percent of those kiosks are accessible

• December 12, 2023 - at least 25 percent of the 

proprietary and shared-use kiosks provided at each 

location at an airport must be accessible
Seat Strapping in Aircraft Cabins Rule

• Issued November 2013

• Allows carriers to use the seat-strapping method to 

transport a passenger's wheelchair in the cabin of newer 

aircraft

• Became effective January 2014
Reporting Loss, Death, or 

Injury of Animals Rule

• Issued July 2014

• The requirement to report on loss, death or injury of 

animals during air transport was expanded to cover a 

greater number of U.S. carriers

• Expanded the definition of “animal” to include all cats 

and dogs transported by the carrier, regardless of 

whether the cat or dog is transported as a pet by its 

owner or as part of a commercial shipment
Reporting Loss, Death, or 

Injury of Animals Rule (Continued)

• Requires all covered carriers to report annually on the 

total number of animals that were lost, injured, or died 

during air transport

• Effective for transportation beginning in January 2015
ON-GOING RULEMAKINGS
Final Rule on Accessibility of Airports 

Major Provisions in NPRM

• Whether to require a minimum of one service animal 

relief area for each terminal in a U.S. airport;

• Whether to require airport operators to enable highcontrast captioning on certain televisions and audiovisual displays in U.S. airports; and

• Whether to require airports to operate and maintain 

lifts used to transfer disabled passengers where level 

entry loading bridges are not available.
Final Rule on Accessibility of Airports 

Schedule

Dates for Final Rule

Milestone Projected

Date

To OST 12/09/2014

To OMB 01/12/2015

OMB Clearance 04/13/2015

Publication Date 04/27/2015
NPRM on Carrier-Supplied Medical Oxygen, 

Service Animals, and Accessible Lavatories

Major Provisions to Be Addressed in NPRM

• Whether carriers should be required to supply in-flight 

medical oxygen to passengers who require it to 

access air transportation; 

• Whether foreign air carriers should continue being 

required to only transport service dogs;
NPRM on Carrier-Supplied Medical Oxygen, 

Service Animals, and Accessible Lavatories 

(Continued)

• Whether medical documentation and advance notice 

should continue to be required from users of 

emotional support and psychiatric service animals; 

• Whether there should be a requirement to report the 

number of requests for wheelchair assistance carriers 

receive; and 

• Feasibility of requiring accessible lavatories on certain 

single-aisle aircraft.
Schedule: NPRM on Carrier-Supplied Medical Oxygen, 

Service Animals, and Accessible Lavatories

Dates for NPRM

Milestone Projected Date

To OST 10/06/2014

To OMB 11/17/2014

OMB Clearance 02/16/2015

Publication Date 02/27/2015

End of Comment Period 04/29/2015
Accessible In-Flight Entertainment NPRM

Issue:

• Whether carriers should be required to ensure that 

the same in-flight entertainment available to all 

passengers is accessible to passengers with 

disabilities
Schedule for Accessible In-Flight 

Entertainment NPRM

Dates for NPRM

Milestone Projected

Date

To OST 11/05/2014

To OMB 12/17/2014

OMB Clearance 03/16/2015

Publication Date 03/25/2015

End of Comment Period 05/24/2015
Transparency of Airline Ancillary Fees 

and other Consumer Protection Issues

• NPRM addresses nine consumer protection areas

• Comment period on the NPRM closed on September 

29, 2014

• Received about 740 Comments

• No schedule for final rulemaking yet

• In the process of reviewing comments now
Transparency of Airline Ancillary Fees 

and other Consumer Protection Issues

• Requiring carriers to provide real-time information on fees 

for optional services to travel agents 

• Requiring minimum customer service standards for ticket 

agents that sell air transportation 

• Expanding the pool of reporting carriers to include smaller 

carriers
Transparency of Airline Ancillary Fees 

and other Consumer Protection Issues

• Requiring reporting carriers to report on-time statistics for 

their code-share partners

• Codifying in regulations the Enforcement Office’s 

interpretation of the statutory term “ticket agent” 

• Disclosure of the airlines marketed by a ticket agent and 

prohibiting display bias
Final Rule on Smoking of Electronic Cigarettes 

On Commercial Aircraft

Issues identified in NPRM:

• Whether to explicitly ban the smoking of electronic 

cigarettes on air carrier and foreign air carrier 

flights in scheduled intrastate, interstate, and 

foreign air transportation 

• Solicited comment on whether the Department 

should extend the ban on smoking to charter flights 

with aircraft that have seating capacity of 19 or 

more passenger seats
Schedule for Final Rule on Smoking of Electronic 

Cigarettes On Commercial Aircraft

Milestone Projected

Date

To OMB 11/03/2014

OMB Clearance 02/02/2015

Publication Date 02/12/2015

Dates for Final Rule
Questions?