[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 578 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 578

To prohibit the Secretary of Transportation from amending or otherwise 
     modifying the operating certificates of major air carriers in 
 connection with a merger or acquisition for a period of 2 years, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 20, 2001

  Mr. Dorgan introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit the Secretary of Transportation from amending or otherwise 
     modifying the operating certificates of major air carriers in 
 connection with a merger or acquisition for a period of 2 years, and 
                          for other purposes.

    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 ``Airline Merger Moratorium Act''.

SEC. 2. MORATORIUM ON AIRLINE MERGERS.

    (a) In General.--During the 2-year period beginning on January 1, 
2001, a major air carrier may not acquire directly or indirectly, any 
voting securities or assets of any other air carrier that would result 
in its having control of that other air carrier (or the assets of that 
air carrier), nor may a major air carrier be merged with another air 
carrier in any other form of transaction, if the resulting air carrier 
would have 10 percent or more of all enplanements in the United States, 
based on the most recently available data from the Department of 
Transportation.
    (b) Enforcement.--An acquisition or merger described in subsection 
(a) is deemed to be an unfair method of competition for purposes of 
section 41712 of title 49, United States Code.

SEC. 3. MORATORIUM ON MERGER-RELATED CHANGES IN OPERATING AUTHORITY.

    (a) In General.--During the 2-year period described in section 
2(a), the Secretary of Transportation may not--
            (1) issue any new operating authority described in 
        subsection (b) that relates to, or is in connection with, a 
        major air carrier's acquisition of, or merger with, another air 
        carrier; or
            (2) make or permit any changes in the operating authorities 
        described in subsection (b) for a major air carrier if that 
        change relates to, or is in connection with, that air carrier's 
        acquisition of, or merger with, another air carrier.
    (b) Embargoed Operating Authorities.--The operating authorities to 
which subsection (a) applies are the following:
            (1) Operating certificates.--A certificate issued under 
        chapter 411 of title 49, United States Code.
            (2) International route authorities.--A permit to provide 
        foreign air transportation.
            (3) Slots.--Slots or slot exemptions.

SEC. 4. ALLIANCES; CODE-SHARING; JOINT VENTURES.

    During the 2-year period described in section 2--
            (1) the Secretary may not approve any changes to an 
        international alliance or code-sharing arrangement of a major 
        air carrier that relates to an acquisition or merger described 
        in section 2(a); and
            (2) no joint venture agreement described in section 
        41720(a)(1) of title 49, United States Code, that relates to, 
        or is executed in connection with, an acquisition or merger 
        described in section 2 may take effect.

SEC. 5. EXCEPTIONS.

    (a) Small Carriers.--Sections 2, 3, and 4 do not apply to the 
operating authority for any air carrier (as defined in section 
40102(a)(2) of title 49, United States Code) that is certified under 
chapter 411 of that title to provide air transportation of passengers 
that acquires or is acquired or merged with another air carrier unless 
the air carrier formed by the acquisition or merger would have 10 
percent or more of all passenger enplanements in the United States, 
based on the most recently available data from the Department of 
Transportation.
    (b) Safety.--Nothing in section 3 prohibits any safety-related 
change in any operating authority described in that section.
    (c) Slots for New Entrants.--Section 3(b)(3) does not prohibit any 
change in a slot or slot exemption for the purpose of accommodating 
flight operations by--
            (1) a new entrant air carrier (as defined in section 
        41714(h)(3) of title 49, United States Code); or
            (2) an air carrier that--
                    (A) is not involved in an acquisition or merger 
                described in section 2; and
                    (B) is operating service at a small hub airport or 
                a medium hub airport, as such terms are defined in 
                section 41714(h)(8) and (9), respectively, of title 49, 
                United States Code, using aircraft with 71 or fewer 
                seats.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Major air carrier.--The term ``major air carrier'' 
        means an air carrier certificated under section 41102 of title 
        49, United States Code, to provide air transportation of 
        passengers that accounted for at least 1 percent of domestic 
        scheduled-passenger revenues in the 12 months ending March 31 
        of each year, as reported to the Department of Transportation 
        pursuant to part 241 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, 
        and identified as a reporting carrier periodically in 
        accounting and reporting directives issued by the Office of 
        Airline Information.
            (2) Change.--The term ``change'' includes issuance, denial, 
        amendment, modification, suspension, revocation, and transfer, 
        including de facto transfers of control of international 
        operating authority through acquisition or merger.
            (3) Acquisition.--The term ``acquisition'' means 
        acquisition of assets or stock and includes any assumption of 
        indebtedness.
            (4) Merger.--The term ``merger'' includes any arrangement, 
        whether through the use of a holding company, parent-subsidiary 
        corporations, joint venture structure, or otherwise under which 
        2 or more entities are placed under common control.
            (5) Control.--With respect to whether a corporation or 
        other entity is considered to be controlled by another 
        corporation or other entity, the term `control' means that more 
        than 10 percent of the ownership, voting rights, capital stock, 
        or other pecuniary interest in that corporation or entity is 
        owned, held, or controlled, directly or indirectly, by such 
        other corporation or entity.
            (6) Passenger enplanements.--The term ``passenger 
        enplanements'' means the average annual number of passenger 
        enplanements as determined by the Department of Transportation 
        for statistical purposes.

SEC. 7. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION STUDY.

    The Secretary of Transportation, during the 2-year period described 
in section 2(a), shall conduct a study to evaluate and determine the 
impact that consolidations and mergers in the airline industry to date 
have had on consumers in the areas of price, competition within 
markets, levels of service, and the availability of flights in rural 
communities. The Secretary shall report the Secretary's findings and 
conclusions, together with any recommendations, to the Congress within 
30 days after the end of the 2-year period described in section 2(a).
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