Executive Summary Purpose of the Regulatory Action The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is issuing this notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to improve the air travel environment of consumers based on its statutory authority to prohibit unfair or deceptive practices in air transportation, 49 U.S.C. § 41712. The Department is taking action to strengthen the rights of air travelers when purchasing airline tickets from ticket agents, ensure that passengers have adequate information about regional carriers’ operations to make informed decisions when selecting flights, increase notice to consumers of some of the fees carriers charge for optional or ancillary services, and prohibit unfair and deceptive practices such as post-purchase price increases and undisclosed biasing in fare and schedule displays. Summary of Regulatory Provisions Subject Proposed Rule Codification of the Department’s Interpretation of “Ticket Agent” Codifies the Department’s broad interpretation of the statutory definition of the term “ticket agent” to include Global Distribution Systems (GDS), websites with flight metasearch engines, and similar intermediaries in the sale of air transportation, if the intermediary is compensated in connection with the sale of air transportation.
service quality of all flights marketed by a low-cost carrier with the service quality of 55% or less of the flights marketed under legacy carriers’ brands and codes. We will not seek to determine how including code-share flight records in the ATCR would affect legacy carriers’ rankings, but we are of the tentative opinion that requiring all reporting carriers to report data for all flights marketed under that carrier’s name and code would put carriers on an equal footing in this important competitive arena. Additional support for our proposal from the aforementioned final report by FAAC, which noted that the Competitiveness and Viability Subcommittee recommended that the Department should continue to require marketing carriers to provide clear and transparent notification of operations conducted by an air carrier other than the marketing carrier. Further, some subcommittee members also believed that more detailed disclosure regarding regional carriers’ operations should be included in the ATCR, and that the report should include metrics organized not only by operating air carrier, but by the marketing air carrier. For the reasons stated above, we are proposing to expand the scope of “reportable flight” under Part 234, and consequently under Part 250. Pursuant to this proposal, a reporting carrier would continue to file Form 234 and Form 251 (the oversales report required by Part 250) with respect to nonstop scheduled flights operated by the reporting carrier. In addition, each reporting carrier would file a separate Form 234 and a separate Form 251 to include both flights that are operated by the reporting carrier itself and all nonstop scheduled flights that are operated by a code-share partner and sold under the reporting carrier’s code. Reportable flights under Part 234 (on-time performance and baggage data) are limited to domestic nonstop flight segments. The Form 251 oversales report has always included data for outbound international flights from the United States, and that will continue to be the case for the proposed new report that would