[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 235 (Friday, December 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 85729-85730]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26847]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Bureau of Transportation Statistics

[Docket ID Number: DOT-OST-2014-0031]


Agency Information Collection: Activity Under OMB Review: Report 
of Passengers Denied Confirmed Space--BTS Form 250

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology 
(OST-R), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) 
abstracted below is being forwarded to the Office

[[Page 85730]]

of Management and Budget (OMB) for an extension of a previously 
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 September 5, 2023. There were no 
comments. As the September 5, 2023, Notice solicits comments from the 
public on whether it is appropriate for the Department to continue to 
collect information on oversales from airlines, the issues raised by 
these comments are beyond the scope of this Notice and will not be 
addressed here. Specifically, having obsolete regulations that allow 
three legacy carriers and one discount carrier to control 80% of the 
domestic aviation market, while banning foreign competitors from 
offering U.S. domestic flights, and allowing airlines to book to 100% 
capacity or overbook to increase their revenue stream. With respect to 
the overbooking comment, the FAA has no jurisdiction in this matter, 
however, the Department does. And although it is not the Department's 
policy or purpose to dictate how airlines internally manage their 
business; this ended with deregulation of the aviation industry in 
1979, it is the Department's policy and purpose to protect and 
standardize how the airlines treat their passengers.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted by January 8, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cecelia Robinson, Office of Airline 
Information, RTS-42, OST-R, BTS, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, 
DC 20590-0001, Telephone Number (202) 893-0515, Fax Number (202) 366-
3383 or email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#53303630363f3a327d213c313a3d203c3d13373c277d343c25"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b5d6d0d6d0d9dcd49bc7dad7dcdbc6dadbf5d1dac19bd2dac3">[email protected]</span></a>.
    Comments: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations, 
part 250, addresses how airlines are to conduct their overbooking 
processes and compensate passengers in the event of an overbooking.
    OMB Approval No.: 2138-0018.
    Title: Report of Passengers Denied Confirmed Space.
    Form No.: BTS Form 250.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

U.S. Air Carriers for Flights They Operate

    Respondents: Large certificated air carriers.
    Number of Respondents: 15.
    Number of Quarterly Responses: 60.
    Number of Hours per Response: 10.
    Total Annual Burden: 600 hours.

U.S. Air Carriers for Codeshare Flights They Market

    Respondents: Large certificated air carriers.
    Number of Respondents: 4.
    Number of Responses: 16.
    Number of Hours per Response: 6.
    Total Annual Burden: 96 hours.
    Needs and Uses: BTS Form 250 is a one-page report 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. On November 3, 2016, the 
Department published a Final Rule (see 81 FR 76800) that changed the 
number of U.S. air carriers that account for at least 1 percent to half 
of one percent of domestic scheduled-service passenger revenues who 
must report all operations with 30 seat or larger aircraft that depart 
a U.S. airport.
    Carriers do not report data from inbound international flights 
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 0.24 per 10,000 passengers in 
2019. The publishing of the carriers' individual denied boarding rates 
has negated 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 denied boardings. 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. 
Without Form 250, determining the effectiveness of the Department's 
oversales rule would be impossible.
    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 December 4, 2023.
William Chadwick, Jr.,
Director, Office of Airline Information, U.S. Department of 
Transportation.
[FR Doc. 2023-26847 Filed 12-7-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P


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