[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4269 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4269

   To amend title 49, United States Code, to promote competition in 
              aviation regulation, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 7, 2024

Ms. Warren (for herself and Mr. Hawley) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 49, United States Code, to promote competition in 
              aviation regulation, 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 ``Airport Gate Competition Act''.

SEC. 2. PROMOTING COMPETITION IN AVIATION REGULATION.

    (a) Promoting Competition.--Section 40101(d) of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
            ``(8) promoting competition.''.
    (b) Maintaining and Enhancing Competition in Slot Allocation.--
Section 40103(b)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting ``In doing so, the Administrator shall consider the need to 
maintain or enhance competition in the air transportation system.'' 
after ``efficient use of airspace.''.
    (c) Ensuring Reasonable Access.--
            (1) General written assurances.--
                    (A) In general.--Section 47107(a)(1) of title 49, 
                United States Code, is amended by inserting ``, and the 
                airport proprietor will take all practicable steps to 
                accommodate requests for reasonable access (as defined 
                in subsection (x)) to terminal facilities'' after 
                ``unjust discrimination''.
                    (B) Standards for reasonable access.--Section 47107 
                of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding 
                at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(x) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Common use.--The term `common use' means nonexclusive 
        use in common by air carriers and other duly authorized users 
        of the airport.
            ``(2) Reasonable access.--The term `reasonable access' 
        means, with respect to terminal facilities, that--
                    ``(A) not less than 25 percent of terminal 
                facilities at an airport are available for common use; 
                and
                    ``(B) not more than 50 percent of terminal 
                facilities are reserved for exclusive use by a single 
                air carrier.
            ``(3) Terminal facilities.--The term `terminal facilities' 
        means facilities within the terminal of an airport, including 
        gates, ticket counters, baggage claim areas, and baggage make 
        up system spaces.''.
            (2) Lease approval.--Section 47107 of title 49, United 
        States Code, as amended by paragraph (1), is amended by adding 
        at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(y) Written Assurances on Lease Agreements.--The Secretary of 
Transportation may approve an application under this subchapter for an 
airport development project grant only if the Secretary receives 
written assurances, satisfactory to the Secretary, that, with respect 
to any airport serving 0.25 percent or more of the total annual 
enplanements in the United States (calculated on a rolling 5-year 
average) and with more than 50 percent of passengers (calculated on a 
rolling 5-year average) handled by 2 air carriers or less, the airport 
owner shall submit to the Secretary any proposed lease, lease 
amendment, or lease extension (including carryover provisions) for 
advance approval, as well as a statement detailing how such proposed 
lease, lease amendment, or lease extension maintains or enhances 
competition in the air transportation system.''.
    (d) Competition Plans.--Section 40117(d) of title 49, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'';
            (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(5) beginning in fiscal year 2026, in the case of an 
        application for a terminal project, the project will provide 
        for reasonable access (as defined in section 47107(x)) to 
        terminal facilities.''.
    (e) Competition Disclosure.--Section 47107(r) of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by striking paragraph (3).
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