[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 77 (Friday, April 21, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19981-19982]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-9945]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary
[Docket No. 50295]


Exemption for Government Aircraft Owners and Operators

AGENCY: Department of Transportation, Office of the Secretary.

ACTION: Notice of Order.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation issued Order 95-4-28 on April 
17, 1995, granting an exemption from the requirements of 49 U.S.C. 
41102 to the extent necessary to allow all owners and operators of 
government aircraft to provide not-for-hire, cost-reimbursable 
transportation incidental to official government business. This order 
was issued pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 40113.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia L. Thomas, Chief, Air Carrier 
Fitness Division, X-56, Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-9721.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following is the Department's Order 95-
4-28, dated April 17, 1995.
    Dated: April 17, 1995.

Patrick V. Murphy,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs.
    In the matter of Government Aircraft Owners and Operators 
exemption from 49 U.S.C. 41102.

Order Granting Exemption

    Recent amendments to section 40102 of Title 49 of the United 
States Code require that certain aircraft owned by or operated for 
government entities now comply with additional safety-related air 
carrier certification and operating regulations of the Federal 
Aviation Administration (``FAA'').<SUP>1 Those FAA regulations 
require, among other things, that such operators also obtain any 
applicable air carrier economic authority under 49 U.S.C. 
41102.<SUP>2 Confusion among some government aircraft owners and 
operators has arisen concerning the effect on them, if any, of the 
statutory amendments on [[Page 19982]] whether they need to obtain 
economic operating authority under 49 U.S.C. 41102.

    \1\Those amendments--which are contained in the Independent 
Safety Board Act of 1994, Pub. L. 103-411--relate to safety only and 
make no changes to the Department's statutory authority or rules 
relating to the economic regulation of air carriers.
    \2\See, e.g., 14 CFR 135.13(a)(3).
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    The Department has long held that economic authority need not be 
obtained by operators of aircraft owned by or being exclusively 
operated for government entities so long as those aircraft are not 
used to engage in common carriage operations.<SUP>3 The Department 
has also held that economic authority is not required in cases where 
a government aircraft owner or operator receives, on a limited 
basis, reimbursement for transportation of non-official passengers 
incidental to official government business.<SUP>4 In such cases, the 
government aircraft owner or operator may not receive more than a 
pro-rata reimbursement of its expenses, or, if required by law, the 
commercial equivalent fare. Examples of situations in which such 
reimbursement would be permitted--or required--include 
transportation of a spouse of a government employee on official 
business<SUP>5 and transportation of members of the media 
accompanying the President on government aircraft.

    \3\See, e.g., Order 92-2-8 (issued February 7, 1992) and Order 
74-2-34 (issued February 11, 1974).
    \4\Id.
    \5\In such cases, at least some federal agencies, including the 
Department of Transportation, require reimbursement equivalent to 
the full coach commercial fare.
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    The amendments to 49 U.S.C. 40102 are entirely safety-related 
and have no effect on the Department's economic licensing 
requirements, including fitness determinations made under 49 U.S.C. 
41102. Imposing an economic licensing requirement where none is 
needed would impose an unwarranted burden on government aircraft 
owners and operators.
    In order to avoid any confusion over the matter, we have decided 
that it is in the public interest to grant an exemption from the 
requirements of 49 U.S.C. 41102 to the extent necessary to allow all 
government owners and operators of aircraft to provide not-for-hire, 
cost-reimbursable transportation incidental to official government 
business.
    Accordingly,
    1. We grant an exemption from the requirements of 49 U.S.C. 
41102 to the extent necessary to allow all owners and operators of 
government aircraft to provide not-for-hire, cost-reimbursable 
transportation incidental to official government business.
    2. This order may be amended, modified, or revoked at any time, 
without hearing, in the discretion of the Department.
    3. This order will be effective immediately, and the filing of a 
petition for reconsideration shall not preclude such effectiveness.
    4. This order shall be published in the Federal Register.
Patrick V. Murphy,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 95-9945 Filed 4-20-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-62-P