IB

Union Calendar No. 66

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1407

[Report No. 107–77, Parts I and II]

To amend title 49, United States Code, to permit air carriers to meet

and discuss their schedules in order to reduce flight delays, and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 4, 2001

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska (for himself, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. MICA, Mr. LIPINSKI,

Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. HORN, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. QUINN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. BAKER,

Mr. COOKSEY, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. HAYES, Mr. JOHNSON

of Illinois, Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, and Mr. KIRK) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation

and Infrastructure

MAY 23, 2001

Reported with an amendment and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

for a period ending not later than July 9, 2001 for consideration of such

provisions of the bill and amendment as fall within the jurisdiction of

that committee pursuant to clause 1(k), rule X

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

JUNE 28, 2001

Additional sponsors: Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. SWEENEY, Mr. COSTELLO, Mrs.

KELLY, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, and

Mr. MEEKS of New York

JUNE 28, 2001

Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with amendments, committed

to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and

ordered to be printed
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[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in boldface roman]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 4, 2001]

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to permit air carriers

to meet and discuss their schedules in order to reduce

flight delays, 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. SCHEDULING COMMITTEES, DISCUSSIONS, AND

4 AGREEMENTS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 401 of title 49, United

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘§ 40129. Air carrier discussions and agreements re8 lating to flight scheduling

9 ‘‘(a) DISCUSSIONS TO REDUCE DELAYS.—

10 ‘‘(1) REQUEST.—An air carrier may file with

11 the Secretary of Transportation a request for author12 ity to discuss with one or more other air carriers or

13 foreign air carriers agreements or cooperative ar14 rangements relating to limiting flights at an airport

15 during a time period that the Secretary determines

16 that scheduled air transportation exceeds the capacity

17 of the airport. The purpose of the discussion shall be
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1 to reduce delays at the airport during such time pe2 riod.

3 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall approve a

4 request filed under this subsection if the Secretary

5 finds that the discussions requested will facilitate vol6 untary adjustments in air carrier schedules that

7 could lead to a substantial reduction in travel delays

8 and improvement of air transportation service to the

9 public. The Secretary may impose such terms and

10 conditions to an approval under this subsection as the

11 Secretary determines are necessary to protect the pub12 lic interest and to carry out the objectives of this sub13 section.

14 ‘‘(3) NOTICE.—Before a discussion may be held

15 under this subsection, the Secretary shall provide at

16 least 3 days notice of the proposed discussion to all

17 air carriers and foreign air carriers that are pro18 viding service to the airport that will be the subject

19 of such discussion.

20 ‘‘(4) MONITORING.—The Secretary or a rep21 resentative of the Secretary shall attend and monitor

22 any discussion or other effort to enter into an agree23 ment or cooperative arrangement under this sub24 section.
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1 ‘‘(5) DISCUSSIONS OPEN TO PUBLIC.—A discus2 sion held under this subsection shall be open to the

3 public.

4 ‘‘(b) AGREEMENTS.—

5 ‘‘(1) REQUEST.—An air carrier may file with

6 the Secretary a request for approval of an agreement

7 or cooperative arrangement relating to interstate air

8 transportation, and any modification of such an

9 agreement or arrangement, reached as a result of a

10 discussion held under subsection (a).

11 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall approve

12 an agreement, arrangement, or modification for

13 which a request is filed under this subsection if the

14 Secretary finds that the agreement, arrangement, or

15 modification is not adverse to the public interest and

16 is necessary to reduce air travel delays and that a

17 substantial reduction in such delays cannot be

18 achieved by any other immediately available means.

19 ‘‘(3) SECRETARIAL IMPOSED TERMS AND CONDI20 TIONS.—The Secretary may impose such terms and

21 conditions on an agreement, arrangement, or modi22 fication for which a request is filed under this sub23 section as the Secretary determines are necessary to

24 protect the public interest and air service to an air-
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1 port that has less than .25 percent of the total annual

2 boardings in the United States.

3 ‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS.—

4 ‘‘(1) RATES, FARES, CHARGES, AND IN-FLIGHT

5 SERVICES.—The participants in a discussion ap6 proved under subsection (a) may not discuss or enter

7 into an agreement or cooperative arrangement regard8 ing rates, fares, charges, or in-flight services.

9 ‘‘(2) CITY PAIRS.—The participants in a discus10 sion approved under subsection (a) may not discuss

11 particular city pairs or submit to another air carrier

12 or foreign air carrier information concerning their

13 proposed service or schedules in a fashion that indi14 cates the city pairs involved.

15 ‘‘(d) TERMINATION.—This section shall cease to be in

16 effect after September 30, 2003; except that an agreement,

17 cooperative arrangement, or modification approved by the

18 Secretary in accordance with this section may continue in

19 effect after such date at the discretion of the Secretary.’’.

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for such

21 chapter is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘40129. Air carrier discussions and agreements relating to flight scheduling.’’.

22 SEC. 2. LIMITED EXEMPTION FROM ANTITRUST LAWS.

23 Section 41308 of title 49, United States Code, is

24 amended—
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1 (1) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘41309’’ and in2 serting ‘‘40129, 41309,’’; and

3 (2) in subsection (c)—

4 (A) by inserting ‘‘40129 or’’ before ‘‘41309’’

5 the first place it appears; and

6 (B) by striking ‘‘41309(b)(1),’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘40129(b) or ‘‘41309(b)(1), as the case may

8 be,’’.

9 SECTION 1. AIR CARRIER DISCUSSIONS RELATING TO

10 FLIGHT SCHEDULING TO REDUCE DELAYS.

11 (a) REQUEST.—An air carrier may file with

12 the Attorney General a request for authority

13 to discuss with one or more other air carriers

14 or foreign air carriers agreements or coopera15 tive arrangements relating to limiting flights

16 at an airport during a time period that the At17 torney General determines that scheduled air

18 transportation exceeds the capacity of the air19 port. The purpose of the discussion shall be

20 to reduce delays at the airport during such

21 time period.

22 (b) APPROVAL.—Notwithstanding the anti23 trust laws, the Attorney General shall ap24 prove a request filed under this section if the

25 Attorney General finds that the discussions
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1 requested will facilitate voluntary adjust2 ments in air carrier schedules that could lead

3 to a substantial reduction in travel delays and

4 improvement of air transportation service to

5 the public and will not substantially lessen

6 competition or tend to create a monopoly. The

7 Attorney General may impose such terms and

8 conditions to an approval under this section

9 as the Attorney General determines are nec10 essary to protect the public interest and to

11 carry out the objectives of this section.

12 (c) NOTICE.—Before a discussion may be

13 held under this section, the Attorney General

14 shall provide at least 3 days notice of the pro15 posed discussion to all air carriers and for16 eign air carriers that are providing service or

17 seeking to provide service to the airport that

18 will be the subject of such discussion.

19 (d) MONITORING.—The Attorney General or

20 a representative of the Attorney General shall

21 attend and monitor any discussion or other

22 effort to enter into an agreement or coopera23 tive arrangement under this section.
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1 (e) DISCUSSIONS OPEN TO PUBLIC.—A dis2 cussion held under this section shall be open

3 to the public.

4 SEC. 2. AIR CARRIER AGREEMENTS RELATING TO FLIGHT

5 SCHEDULING.

6 (a) REQUEST.—An air carrier may file with

7 the Attorney General a request for approval

8 of an agreement or cooperative arrangement

9 relating to interstate air transportation, and

10 any modification of such an agreement or ar11 rangement, reached as a result of a discussion

12 held under section 1.

13 (b) APPROVAL.—Notwithstanding the anti14 trust laws, and subject to subsection (c), the

15 Attorney General shall approve an agreement,

16 arrangement, or modification for which a re17 quest is filed under this section if the Attor18 ney General finds that the agreement, ar19 rangement, or modification is not adverse to

20 the public interest, is necessary to reduce air

21 travel delays, and will not substantially lessen

22 competition or tend to create a monopoly and

23 that a substantial reduction in such delays

24 cannot be achieved by any other immediately

25 available means.
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1 (c) UNANIMOUS AGREEMENT AMONG CAR2 RIERS REQUIRED.—The Attorney General may

3 approve an agreement, arrangement, or modi4 fication for which a request is filed under this

5 section only if the Attorney General finds that

6 each air carrier and foreign air carrier pro7 viding service or seeking to provide service to

8 the airport that is the subject of the agree9 ment, arrangement, or modification has

10 agreed to the agreement, arrangement, or

11 modification.

12 (d) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Attorney

13 General may impose such terms and condi14 tions on an agreement, arrangement, or modi15 fication for which a request is filed under this

16 section as the Attorney General determines

17 are necessary to protect the public interest

18 and air service to an airport that has less than

19 .25 percent of the total annual boardings in

20 the United States.

21 SEC. 3. LIMITATIONS.

22 (a) RATES, FARES, CHARGES, AND IN-FLIGHT

23 SERVICES.—The participants in a discussion

24 approved under section 1 may not discuss or

25 enter into an agreement or cooperative ar-
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1 rangement regarding rates, fares, charges, or

2 in-flight services.

3 (b) CITY PAIRS.—The participants in a dis4 cussion approved under section 1 may not dis5 cuss particular city pairs or submit to another

6 air carrier or foreign air carrier information

7 concerning their proposed service or sched8 ules in a fashion that indicates the city pairs

9 involved.

10 SEC. 4. CONSULTATION WITH SECRETARY OF TRANSPOR11 TATION.

12 In making a determination whether to ap13 prove a request under section 1, or an agree14 ment, arrangement, or modification under

15 section 2, the Attorney General shall consider

16 any comments of the Secretary of Transpor17 tation.

18 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

19 In this Act, the following definitions

20 apply:

21 (1) AIR CARRIER, AIRPORT, AIR TRANS22 PORTATION, FOREIGN AIR CARRIER, AND

23 INTERSTATE AIR TRANSPORTATION.—The

24 terms ‘‘air carrier’’, ‘‘airport’’, ‘‘air trans25 portation’’

, ‘‘foreign air carrier’’, and
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1 ‘‘interstate air transportation’’ have the

2 meanings such terms have under section

3 40102 of title 49, United States Code.

4 (2) ANTITRUST LAWS.—The term ‘‘anti5 trust laws’’ has the meaning such term

6 has under section 41308(a) of title 49,

7 United States Code.

8 SEC. 6. TERMINATION.

9 (a) APPROVAL OF AGREEMENTS.—The Attor10 ney General may not approve an agreement,

11 arrangement, or modification under section 2

12 after October 26, 2003.

13 (b) EXPIRATION OF AGREEMENTS.—An agree14 ment, arrangement, or modification approved

15 by the Attorney General under section 2 may

16 continue in effect until October 26, 2004, or an

17 earlier date determined by the Attorney Gen18 eral.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to permit air

carriers to meet and discuss their schedules in order to

reduce flight delays, and for other purposes.’’.
Union Calendar No. 66

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1407

[Report No. 107–77, Parts I and II]

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to permit

air carriers to meet and discuss their schedulesin order to reduce flight delays, and for otherpurposes.

JUNE 28, 2001

Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with

amendments, committed to the Committee of theWhole House on the State of the Union, and orderedto be printed