I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 80
To amend the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 relating to bankruptcy
transportation plans.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 5, 1993
Mr. BOEHLERT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Public Works and Transportation
A BILL
To amend the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 relating to
bankruptcy transportation plans.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Airline Bankruptcy
Passenger Protection Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. REPORTING AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Federal Aviation
Act of 1958 (49 U.S.C. App. 1371–1389) is amended by
adding at the end thereof the following new section:
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‘‘SEC. 420. BANKRUPTCY TRANSPORTATION PLANS.
‘‘(a) DEVELOPMENT.—
‘‘(1) ORDER.—Not later than 60 days after the
date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary
shall issue an order authorizing covered air carriers
to develop a plan for providing air transportation for
any person who holds an airline ticket for provision
of such transportation by a covered air carrier who,
after the date of purchase of such ticket, becomes a
debtor in a case under title 11, United States Code.
Such order shall also include an exemption in ac-
cordance with section 414.
‘‘(2) DEADLINE
FOR
SUBMISSION.—Any plan
developed under paragraph (1) shall be submitted to
the Secretary for approval within 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this section.
‘‘(b) TIME LIMIT AND BASIS FOR APPROVAL.—If a
plan is submitted to the Secretary in accordance with sub-
section (a), the Secretary shall approve or disapprove such
plan within 60 days after the date of such submission. If
the Secretary determines that such plan will provide (or
would provide if all covered air carriers participate in im-
plementation of such plan) satisfactory protection for all
persons who hold airline tickets described in subsection
(a), the Secretary shall approve such plan. Otherwise, the
Secretary shall disapprove such plan.
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‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION
OF APPROVED PLANS.—If
the Secretary approves a plan under this section, the Sec-
retary shall issue an order requiring implementation of
such plan by the covered air carriers who submitted such
plan and any other covered air carriers. If there are any
covered air carriers who did not participate in development
of a plan approved under this section, such carriers shall
be treated under such order and plan in the same manner
as carriers who did participate in development of such
plan.
‘‘(d) REGULATIONS.—If a plan described in sub-
section (a) is not submitted within 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this section, or if the Secretary dis-
approves a plan submitted in accordance with subsection
(a), or if the Secretary determines that a plan approved
under this section is not being implemented in a manner
which provides satisfactory protection for all persons who
hold airline tickets described in subsection (a), the Sec-
retary shall issue regulations requiring all covered air car-
riers to provide air transportation for persons who hold
such tickets. Such regulations must be issued within 90
days after the expiration of such 180-day period, the date
of disapproval of such plan, or the date of such determina-
tion, as the case may be.
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—
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‘‘(1) AIRLINE TICKET.—The term ‘airline tick-
et’ means any written instrument that embodies a
contract of carriage between a covered air carrier
and a passenger thereof for interstate or overseas
air transportation.
‘‘(2) COVERED AIR CARRIER.—The term ‘cov-
ered air carrier’ means—
‘‘(A) an air carrier which provides inter-
state or overseas air transportation primarily
with aircraft having seating for more than 60
passengers and which in the 12-month period
preceding the date of the enactment of this sec-
tion, enplaned more than .2 percent of the total
number of passengers enplaned on all aircraft
used to provide interstate and overseas air
transportation in such period; and
‘‘(B) an air carrier not described in sub-
paragraph (A) who enters into an agreement
with an air carrier who is described in subpara-
graph (A) to operate under or use a single air
carrier designator code to provide interstate or
overseas air transportation, but only with re-
spect to those operations of the carrier not de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) which are carried
out under such code.
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‘‘(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means
the Secretary of Transportation.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO TABLE OF CON-
TENTS.—The table of contents in the first section of the
Federal Aviation Act of 1958 is amended by adding at
the end of the material relating to title IV the following:
‘‘Sec. 420. Bankruptcy transportation plans.
‘‘(a) Development.
‘‘(b) Time limit and basis for approval.
‘‘(c) Implementation of approved plans.
‘‘(d) Regulations.
‘‘(e) Definitions.’’.
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