I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5000 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to allow certain persons to own 

and control an air carrier providing air transportation or intrastate 

air transportation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2018 

Mr. BRAT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee 

on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to allow certain 

persons to own and control an air carrier providing air 

transportation or intrastate air transportation, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Free to Fly Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

6 Section 40102(a) of title 49, United States Code, is 

7 amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘citizen of the 

2 United States’’ and inserting ‘‘citizen of the United 

3 States, or other person organized under the laws of 

4 the United States or a State, the District of Colum5 bia, or a territory or possession of the United 

6 States,’’; 

7 (2) in paragraph (15)(C)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘of which the president 

9 and at least two-thirds of the board of direc10 tors’’ and inserting ‘‘of which the president and 

11 at least 51 percent of the board of directors’’; 

12 and 

13 (B) by striking ‘‘at least 75 percent of the 

14 voting interest’’ and inserting ‘‘at least 51 per15 cent of the voting interest’’; 

16 (3) in paragraph (21) by striking ‘‘not a citizen 

17 of the United States’’ and inserting ‘‘who is not or18 ganized under the laws of the United States or a 

19 State, the District of Columbia, or a territory or 

20 possession of the United States’’; and 

21 (4) in paragraph (26) by striking ‘‘citizen of the 

22 United States’’ and inserting ‘‘citizen of the United 

23 States or other person organized under the laws of 

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1 bia, or a territory or possession of the United 

2 States’’. 

3 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT FOR CERTIFICATE. 

4 Section 41101(b) of title 49, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘citizen of the United States’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘citizen of the United States or other 

8 person organized under the laws of the United 

9 States or a State, the District of Columbia, or a ter10 ritory or possession of the United States’’; 

11 (2) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘citizen’’ and 

12 inserting ‘‘citizen or other person’’; 

13 (3) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub14 section (d); and 

15 (4) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR NON-CITI18 ZENS OPERATING CERTAIN ROUTES.—In order for a per19 son who is not a citizen of the United States and who 

20 is not a foreign air carrier to be issued and maintain a 

21 certificate for air transportation or intrastate air transpor22 tation, all employees and managing officers, other than the 

23 board of directors, must be citizens, nationals, or lawful 

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1 son’s headquarters and base of operations must be located 

2 in the United States.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATES OF PUBLIC CONVEN4 IENCE. 

5 Section 41102 of title 49, United States Code, is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) by striking the subsection heading in sub8 section (a) and inserting ‘‘ISSUANCE TO A CITIZEN’’; 

9 (2) by redesignating subsections (b), (c), and 

10 (d) as subsections (c), (d), and (e), respectively; 

11 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(b) ISSUANCE TO OTHER PERSONS.—The Secretary 

14 of Transportation may issue a certificate of public conven15 ience and necessity to a person organized under the laws 

16 of the United States or a State, the District of Columbia, 

17 or a territory or possession of the United States, of which 

18 more than 49 percent of the board of directors are not 

19 citizens of the United States, which is not under the actual 

20 control of citizens of the United States, or in which more 

21 than 49 percent of the voting interest is owned or con22 trolled by persons that are not citizens of the United 

23 States, to provide any part of the following air transpor24 tation the person has applied for under section 41108 of 

25 this title: 


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1 ‘‘(1) Air transportation as an air carrier. 

2 ‘‘(2) Temporary air transportation as an air 

3 carrier for a limited period. 

4 ‘‘(3) Charter air transportation as a charter air 

5 carrier.’’; 

6 (4) in subsection (c), as redesignated— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘under subsection (a)’’ 

8 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘under sub9 section (a) or subsection (b)’’ in each such 

10 place; and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘citizen’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘citizen or other person’’; and 

13 (5) by striking subsection (e), as redesignated, 

14 and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(e) PRESIDENTIAL REVIEW OF CERTAIN CERTIFI16 CATES.—The Secretary shall submit each decision to the 

17 President under section 41307 of this title authorizing— 

18 ‘‘(1) the provision of foreign air transportation; 

19 or 

20 ‘‘(2) the provision of interstate air transpor21 tation or intrastate air transportation by a person 

22 who is not a citizen of the United States.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. CIVIL RESERVE AIR FLEET ELIGIBILITY. 

2 Section 41106 of title 49, United States Code, is 

3 amended by striking subsection (d) and inserting the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of Defense may 

6 contract with an air carrier that does not meet all require7 ments if— 

8 ‘‘(1) the Secretary decides that no air carrier 

9 holding a certificate under section 41102 is capable 

10 of providing, and willing to provide, the airlift serv11 ices; or 

12 ‘‘(2) the Secretary decides to grant a waiver 

13 under section 9518 of title 10, United States Code, 

14 for a person who is not a citizen of the United 

15 States and who is organized under the laws of the 

16 United States that has a certificate of public conven17 ience and necessity, from the Civil Reserve Air Fleet 

18 citizenship requirements for the purposes of eligi19 bility and participation.’’. 

20 SEC. 6. APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATE OF PUBLIC CON21 VENIENCE. 

22 Section 41108 of title 49, United States Code, is 

23 amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘citizen of the 

25 United States’’ and inserting ‘‘citizen of the United 

26 States or other person organized under the laws of 


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1 the United States or a State, the District of Colum2 bia, or a territory or possession of the United 

3 States’’; 

4 (2) in subsections (b) and (c) by striking ‘‘cit5 izen’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘citizen or 

6 other person’’; 

7 (3) in subsection (b)(3)(A) by striking ‘‘inter8 state air transportation’’ and inserting ‘‘interstate 

9 air transportation provided by a citizen’’; and 

10 (4) in subsection (b)(3)(B) by striking ‘‘foreign 

11 air transportation’’ and inserting ‘‘interstate air 

12 transportation or intrastate air transportation by a 

13 person who is not a citizen of the United States, or 

14 foreign air transportation,’’. 

15 SEC. 7. POTENTIAL REVOCATION OF CERTIFICATE. 

16 Section 41110(a)(2)(B) of title 49, United States 

17 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘sections 41308–41310(a)’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘sections 41101(c), 41308–41310(a)’’. 

19 SEC. 8. LIABILITY INSURANCE AND FINANCIAL RESPONSI20 BILITY. 

21 Section 41112(a) of title 49, United States Code, is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘citizen of the United States’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘citizen of the United States, or other 

25 person organized under the laws of the United 


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1 States or a State, the District of Columbia, or a ter2 ritory or possession of the United States’’; and 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘citizen’’ the second place it ap4 pears and inserting ‘‘citizen or other person’’. 

5 SEC. 9. PRESIDENTIAL REVIEW OF FOREIGN AIR CARRIERS 

6 AND OTHER NON-CITIZENS. 

7 Section 41307 of title 49, United States Code, is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) by striking the section heading and insert10 ing ‘‘Presidential review of actions about 

11 foreign air transportation and air trans12 portation provided by non-citizens’’; and 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘to provide foreign air transpor14 tation’’ and inserting ‘‘to provide foreign air trans15 portation, or for a person who is not a citizen of the 

16 United States to provide air transportation or intra17 state air transportation’’. 

18 SEC. 10. JOINT PRICING. 

19 Section 41503 of title 49, United States Code, is 

20 amended by striking ‘‘citizen of the United States’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘a citizen of the United States or other person 

22 organized under the laws of the United States or a State, 

23 the District of Columbia, or a territory or possession of 

24 the United States’’. 


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1 SEC. 11. NAVIGATION OF FOREIGN CIVIL AIRCRAFT. 

2 Section 41703(a) of title 49, United States Code, is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (4) by striking the period and 

5 inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

6 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(5) if specifically authorized under sections 

8 41102 and 41108, and if the airman holds a certifi9 cate issued or made valid by the Government.’’. 

10 SEC. 12. WAIVERS FOR NON-CITIZEN AIR CARRIER PARTICI11 PATION IN THE CIVIL RESERVE AIR FLEET. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 931 of title 10, United 

13 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘§ 9518. Non-citizen air carriers: waiver authority 

16 ‘‘(a) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—In the case of any air 

17 carrier described in subsection (b) or any aircraft owned 

18 by an air carrier described in subsection (b), the Secretary 

19 of Defense may waive any citizenship requirement under 

20 this chapter. Any such waiver— 

21 ‘‘(1) shall be for a period not to exceed two 

22 years; 

23 ‘‘(2) may be revoked at any time by the Sec24 retary; and 

25 ‘‘(3) may be renewed for an additional two-year 

26 period for an unlimited number of times. 


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1 ‘‘(b) AIR CARRIER DESCRIBED.—An air carrier de2 scribed in this section is an air carrier— 

3 ‘‘(1) owned by a person who is not a citizen of 

4 the United States and who is organized under the 

5 laws of the United States or a State, territory, or 

6 the District of Columbia; and 

7 ‘‘(2) that holds a certificate of public conven8 ience and necessity under section 41102 of title 

9 49.’’. 

10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

11 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

12 at the end the following new item: 

‘‘9518. Non-citizen air carriers: waiver authority.’’. 

Æ 


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