Document ID: DOT-OST-2007-0022-0230
Agency: dot
Document Type: Rule
Title: Enhancing Airline Passenger Protections
Posted Date: 2009-02-06T05:00Z

[Federal Register: February 6, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 24)]
[Proposed Rules]               
[Page 6249-6250]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr06fe09-16]                         

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Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

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[[Page 6249]]

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

14 CFR Parts 234, 259, and 399

[Docket No. OST-2007-0022]
RIN 2105-AD72

 
Enhancing Airline Passenger Protections

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary (OST), U.S. Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Extension of comment period on proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department is extending through March 9, 2009, the period 
for interested persons to submit comments to its proposed rule on 
enhancing airline passenger protections.

DATES: Comments must be received by March 9, 2009. Comments received 
after this date will be considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: You may file comments identified by the docket number DOT-
OST-2007-0022 by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: go to http://
www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for submitting 
written comments. A standard form has been created for those who wish 
to use it in submitting comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., Room W12-140, Washington, DC 
20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, 
Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays
     Fax: (202) 493-2251.
    We strongly encourage you to use the standard form to submit 
comments. To access the form, go to http://www.regulations.gov and use 
the SEARCH DOCUMENTS field provided to input the docket number for this 
rulemaking. You can then search the index for ``Public comment standard 
form.'' This form may then be moved to your computer desktop, where you 
can type in your comments. You may then attach the form when you submit 
your comments to the docket.
    If you do not use the standard form, you must include the agency 
name and docket number DOT-OST-2007-0022 or the Regulatory 
Identification Number (RIN) for the rulemaking at the beginning of your 
comment. All comments received will be posted without change to http://
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daeleen Chesley or Blane Workie, 
Office of Assistant General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement and 
Proceedings, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SW., W96-414, Washington, DC 29590. 
Phone: 202-366-9342. TTY: 202-366-0511. Fax: 202-366-7152. E-mail: 
daeleen.chesley@dot.gov or blane.workie@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 8, 2008, 73 FR 74586, Dec. 8, 
2008, the Department of Transportation (DOT or Department) published in 
the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that 
proposed to enhance airline passenger protections in the following 
ways: By requiring air carriers to adopt contingency plans for lengthy 
tarmac delays and incorporate them in their contracts of carriage, by 
requiring air carriers to respond to consumer problems, by deeming the 
continued operation of a flight that is chronically late to be unfair 
and deceptive in violation of 49 U.S.C. 41712, by requiring air 
carriers to publish information on flight delays on their Web sites, 
and by requiring air carriers to adopt customer service plans, 
incorporate these into their contracts of carriage, and audit their own 
compliance with their plans. Comments on the matters proposed are due 
60 days after publication of the NPRM, or by February 6, 2009.
    On December 30, 2008, the Air Transport Association (ATA) requested 
an extension of 60 days time in the comment period for this rulemaking. 
According to ATA, the extension of time is needed in order for it to 
develop a more complete and accurate cost-benefit analysis of the 
proposed rule than is contained in the Initial Regulatory Evaluation. 
In support of its request, ATA states that the Initial Regulatory 
Evaluation contains estimates on costs of the rule without input from 
affected carriers and that other estimates are vastly underestimated. 
In particular, ATA points to costs associated with litigation that it 
asserts will result if carriers are required to make contingency plans 
or customer service plans part of their contracts of carriage, costs of 
developing Web sites to contain information not currently required to 
be provided consumers, and costs on carriers and the public of any 
requirement dictating maximum tarmac delay times. ATA also points, in 
support of its request for additional time, to the coordination it 
claims will be necessary on the rule and notes that the comment period 
includes the end-of-year holiday. As of January 13, 2009, no comments 
were filed in response to ATA's request.
    We have decided to grant an extension of 31 days time, or until 
March 9, 2009, for the public to comment on the NPRM. In doing so, we 
note that ATA and other interested parties already have had a 
significant amount of time to review and analyze the matters at issue 
in the NPRM, including providing the Department with the cost data it 
says is necessary. On November 18, 2008, 20 days prior to the December 
8, 2008, publication of the NPRM in the Federal Register, which began 
the 60-day comment period, the Department published the proposal in its 
own public docket system and publicized that fact. Thus, all interested 
parties would have had 80 days to review and comment on the proposals, 
even without the additional 31 days we are now granting. Moreover, most 
of the issues encompassed by the NPRM are not by any means new to ATA 
and other interested parties, since they were first proposed for 
comment approximately 14 months ago in an Advance Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking, issued November 15, 2007, on which ATA among others 
commented. Accordingly, the Department finds that good cause exists to 
extend the time for comments on the proposed rule from February 6, 
2009, to March 9, 2009.

[[Page 6250]]

    Issued in Washington, DC, this 29th day of January 2009, under 
authority assigned to me by 14 CFR 385.17 (c).
Neil R. Eisner,
Assistant General Counsel, Office of Regulation and Enforcement, U.S. 
Department of Transportation.
[FR Doc. E9-2548 Filed 2-5-09; 8:45 am]

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