[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2024 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2024

   To amend title 49, United States Code, to require air carriers to 
    conduct safety audits of foreign air carriers as a condition of 
   approval of certain cooperative arrangements between the carriers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 7, 1999

Mr. Oberstar (for himself, Mr. Lipinski, and Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson 
  of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 49, United States Code, to require air carriers to 
    conduct safety audits of foreign air carriers as a condition of 
   approval of certain cooperative arrangements between the carriers.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Aviation Code-Share Safety Act of 
1999''.

SEC. 2. APPROVAL OF AIR CARRIER CODE-SHARING ARRANGEMENTS WITH FOREIGN 
              AIR CARRIERS.

    (a) In General.--Section 41309 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Approval of Code-Sharing Arrangements.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of Transportation may 
        approve a code-sharing arrangement under subsection (a) between 
        an air carrier providing air transportation of passengers and a 
        foreign air carrier only if--
                    ``(A) the director of safety, director of 
                operations, and director of maintenance for the air 
                carrier (or individuals employed in equivalent 
                positions) each certify to the Administrator of the 
                Federal Aviation Administration that--
                            ``(i) an initial safety audit, including an 
                        on-site inspection, of the foreign air carrier 
                        has been conducted under a safety audit program 
                        approved by the Administrator under this 
                        subsection; and
                            ``(ii) the foreign air carrier met the 
                        standards of the safety audit program; and
                    ``(B) the air carrier agrees to conduct periodic 
                safety audits, including on-site inspections, of the 
                foreign air carrier in accordance with the safety audit 
                program.
            ``(2) Requirements for safety audit programs.--
                    ``(A) Elements to be audited.--A safety audit 
                program of an air carrier under this section shall 
                include periodic safety audits, including on-site 
                inspections, conducted by the air carrier of each of 
                the following elements of a foreign air carrier's 
                operations:
                            ``(i) Flight operations.
                            ``(ii) Maintenance operations.
                            ``(iii) Airworthiness.
                            ``(iv) Incident and accident rates.
                            ``(v) Crew training.
                            ``(vi) En-route procedures.
                            ``(vii) Emergency response plans.
                            ``(viii) Other elements considered 
                        necessary by the Administrator.
                    ``(B) Quality assurance.--A safety audit program of 
                an air carrier under this section shall include 
                procedures to ensure the quality of audits conducted 
                under the program, including procedures for training 
                personnel of the air carrier who will conduct the 
                audits.
                    ``(C) Changes in ownership.--A safety audit program 
                of an air carrier under this section shall include 
                procedures to ensure that if there is a change in 
                ownership of a code-sharing partner of the air carrier 
                a new audit of the code-sharing partner will be 
                conducted under the program.
            ``(3) Guidance.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this subsection, the Administrator, in 
        consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the International 
        Civil Aviation Organization, and representatives and employees 
        of air carriers and foreign air carriers, shall issue guidance 
        to air carriers on the establishment of safety audit programs 
        that will satisfy the requirements of this subsection.
            ``(4) Approval.--An air carrier described in paragraph (1) 
        that has entered into or plans to enter into a code-share 
        arrangement with a foreign air carrier shall submit a safety 
        audit program to the Administrator for approval.
            ``(5) Written records.--Each director of an air carrier 
        making a certification under paragraph (1) shall maintain for 
        inspection by the Administrator sufficient written records to 
        support the certification.
            ``(6) Reviews.--To ensure the consistency, quality, and 
        effectiveness of safety audit programs conducted under this 
        subsection, the Administrator shall conduct a comprehensive 
        review of the safety audit program of an air carrier at least 
        once each year. To facilitate such a review, the air carrier 
        shall permit the Administrator to accompany the air carrier on 
        site inspections of foreign air carriers that are code-share 
        partners of the air carrier.
            ``(7) Assessments of foreign regulatory authorities.--The 
        Administrator shall work with the International Civil Aviation 
        Organization to ensure that oversight of code-sharing 
        arrangements between air carriers and foreign air carriers is 
        included as part of any assessment of a country's air safety 
        regulatory authorities.
            ``(8) Code-sharing arrangement defined.--In this 
        subsection, the term `code-sharing arrangement' means an 
        arrangement whereby an air carrier's designator code is used to 
        identify a flight operated by another carrier.
            ``(9) Applicability.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Paragraph (1) shall apply to 
                approvals of code-sharing arrangements under subsection 
                (a) on and after the day that is 1 year after the date 
                of enactment of this subsection.
                    ``(B) Existing agreements.--If an air carrier has 
                received approval of a code-sharing arrangement under 
                subsection (a) before the day that is 1 year after the 
                date of enactment of this subsection (including 
                approvals received before such date of enactment), the 
                air carrier shall make the certifications and 
                assurances required by paragraph (1) with respect to 
                the arrangement on or before such day.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 41309(b) of such title is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (1);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (2) and 
        inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) or, after periodic review, end approval of a code-
        sharing arrangement that raises safety concerns.''.
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