II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2823 

To amend chapter 417 of title 49, United States Code, to require air carriers 

and ticket agents to notify consumers of all taxes and fees applicable 

to airline tickets in a timely manner, to prohibit the imposition of 

fuel surcharges that do not correlate to the fuel costs incurred by air 

carriers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 2, 2009 

Mr. MENENDEZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 417 of title 49, United States Code, 

to require air carriers and ticket agents to notify consumers of all taxes and fees applicable to airline tickets 

in a timely manner, to prohibit the imposition of fuel 

surcharges that do not correlate to the fuel costs incurred by air carriers, 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 ‘‘Clear Airfares Act of 

5 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO 

2 THE SALE OF AIRLINE TICKETS; RESTRIC3 TIONS ON CERTAIN FUEL SURCHARGES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 41712 of title 49, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(c) NOTICE OF TAXES AND FEES APPLICABLE TO

8 TICKETS FOR AIR TRANSPORTATION.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be an unfair or de10 ceptive practice under subsection (a) for an air car11 rier, foreign air carrier, or ticket agent to sell a tick12 et for air transportation unless the air carrier, for13 eign air carrier, or ticket agent, as the case may 

14 be— 

15 ‘‘(A) displays information with respect to 

16 the taxes and fees described in paragraph (2), 

17 including the amount and a description of each 

18 such tax or fee, simultaneously with and in rea19 sonable proximity to the price listed for the 

20 ticket; and 

21 ‘‘(B) in the case of a ticket for air trans22 portation sold on the Internet, provides to the 

23 purchaser of the ticket information with respect 

24 to the taxes and fees described in paragraph 

25 (2), including the amount and a description of 

26 each such tax or fee, before requiring the purVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:35 Dec 03, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2823.IS S2823

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1 chaser to provide any personal information, in2 cluding the name, address, phone number, e3 mail address, or credit card information of the 

4 purchaser. 

5 ‘‘(2) TAXES AND FEES DESCRIBED.—The taxes 

6 and fees described in this paragraph are all taxes, 

7 fees, and charges applicable to a ticket for air trans8 portation, including— 

9 ‘‘(A) all taxes, fees, charges, and sur10 charges included in the price paid by a pur11 chaser for the ticket, including fuel surcharges 

12 and surcharges relating to peak or holiday trav13 el; and 

14 ‘‘(B) any fees for checked baggage, seating 

15 assignments, and optional in-flight goods and 

16 services, and other fees that may be charged 

17 after the ticket is purchased. 

18 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITION ON FUEL SURCHARGES NOT COR19 RELATED TO COST.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be an unfair or de21 ceptive practice under subsection (a) for an air car22 rier or foreign air carrier to impose a fuel surcharge 

23 with respect to a ticket for air transportation unless 

24 the amount of the fuel surcharge correlates to the 

25 amount paid by the air carrier for fuel and to the 


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1 amount of fuel used by the air carrier to provide the 

2 purchaser with such air transportation. 

3 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATIONS OF CORRELATION.—The 

4 Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the 

5 Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administra6 tion, shall prescribe standards to be used in deter7 mining under paragraph (1) whether a fuel sur8 charge imposed by an air carrier correlates to the 

9 amount paid by the air carrier for fuel and to the 

10 amount of fuel used by the air carrier to provide air 

11 transportation.’’. 

12 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Transpor13 tation, in consultation with the Administrator of the Fed14 eral Aviation Administration, shall prescribe such regula15 tions as may be necessary to carry out subsections (c) and 

16 (d) of section 41712 of title 49, United States Code, as 

17 added by subsection (a) of this section. 

Æ 


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