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[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 180 (Friday, September 16, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57795-57796]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23770]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

[Docket Number: DOT-OST-2011-0170]

Agency Request for Renewal of a Previously Approved Collection; 
Disclosure of Code Sharing Arrangements and Long-Term Wet Leases

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation (DOT) invites public comments 
about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) approval to renew an information collection. We are required to 
publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted by November 15, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by DOT Docket Number 
OST-2011-0170) through one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail or Hand Delivery: Docket Management Facility; U.S. 
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West 
Building, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except on Federal Holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aleta Best, (202) 493-0797, Office of 
the Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs, Office 
of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OMB Control Number: 2105-0537.
    Title: Disclosure of Code Sharing Arrangements and Long-Term Wet 
Leases.
    Type of Review: Renewal of an information collection.
    Abstract: Codesharing is the name given to a common airline 
industry marketing practice where, by mutual agreement between 
cooperating carriers, at least one of the airline designator codes used 
on a flight is different from that of the airline operating the 
aircraft. In one version, two or more airlines each use their own 
designator codes on the same aircraft operation. Although only one 
airline operates the flight, each airline in a codesharing arrangement 
may hold out, market, and sell the flight as its own in published 
schedules. Codesharing also refers to other arrangements, such as when 
a code on a passenger's ticket is not that of the operator of the 
flight, but where the operator does not also hold out the service in 
its own name. Such codesharing arrangements are common between commuter 
air carriers and their larger affiliates, and the number of 
arrangements between U.S. air carriers and foreign air carriers has 
also been increasing. Arrangements falling into this category are 
similar to leases of aircraft with crew (wet leases).
    The Department recognizes the strong preference of air travelers 
for on-line service (service by a single carrier) on connecting flights 
over interline service (service by multiple carriers). Codesharing 
arrangements are, in part, a marketing response to this demand for on-
line service. Often, codesharing partners offer services similar to 
those available for on-line connections with the goal of offering 
``seamless'' service (i.e., service where the transfers from flight to 
flight or airline to airline are facilitated). For example, they may 
locate gates near each other to make connections more convenient or 
coordinate baggage handling to give greater assurance that baggage will 
be properly handled.
    Codesharing arrangements can help airlines operate more efficiently 
because they can reduce costs by providing a joint service with one 
aircraft rather than operating separate services with two aircraft. 
Particularly in thin markets, this efficiency can lead to increased 
price and service options for consumers or enable the use of equipment 
sized appropriately for the market. Therefore, the Department 
recognizes that codesharing, as well as long-term wet leases, can offer 
significant economic benefits.
    Although codesharing and wet-lease arrangements can offer 
significant consumer benefits, they can also be misleading unless 
consumers know that the transportation they are considering for 
purchase will not be provided by the airline whose designator code is 
shown on the ticket, schedule, or itinerary and unless they know the 
identity of the airline on which they will be flying. The growth in the 
use of codesharing, wet-leasing, and similar marketing tools, 
particularly in international air transportation, had given the 
Department concern about whether the then-current disclosure rules (14 
CFR 399.88) protected the public interest adequately and led the 
Department to adopt specific regulations requiring the disclosure of 
code-sharing arrangements and long-term wet leases on March 15, 1999. 
(14 CFR part 257)
    These regulations required U.S. airlines, foreign airlines and 
travel agents doing business in the United States, to notify passengers 
of the existence of code-sharing or long-term wet lease arrangements. 
It also required U.S. airlines, foreign airlines and travel agents to 
tell prospective consumers, in all oral communications before booking 
transportation, that the transporting airline is not the airline whose 
designator code will appear on travel documents and identify the 
transporting airline by its corporate name and any other name under 
which that service is held out to the public.
    Respondents: All U.S. air carriers, foreign air carriers, computer 
reservations systems (CRSs), and travel

[[Page 57796]]

agents doing business in the United States, and the traveling public.
    Number of Respondents: 16,000, excluding travelers.
    Frequency: At 15 seconds per call and an average of 1.5 calls per 
trip, a total of 22.5 seconds per respondent or traveler, for the 
approximately 33% of codeshare itineraries that involve personal 
contact.
    Total Annual Burden: Annual reporting burden for this data 
collection is estimated at 618,750 hours for all travel agents and 
airline ticket agents, based on 15 seconds per phone call and an 
average of 1.5 phone calls per trip, for the approximately 33% of 
codeshare itineraries that involve personal contact. Most of this data 
collection (third party notification) is accomplished through highly 
automated computerized systems.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including (a) whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the Department's 
performance; (b) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (c) ways for the 
Department to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information collection; and (d) ways that the burden could be minimized 
without reducing the quality of the collected information.

    Authority : The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. 
chapter 35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1:48.

    Dated: September 12, 2011.
Todd M. Homan,
Director, Office of Aviation Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2011-23770 Filed 9-15-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P
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