[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 2, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21580-21581]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-10760]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary


Final Order Amending Certain Tentative Findings Contained in an 
Earlier Order to Show Cause Order 94-10-5, Dated October 6, 1994

    We are publishing the order in its entirety as an appendix to this 
document.

DATES: Issued in Washington, D.C. April 26, 1995.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 26, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis DeVany, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Office of Aviation Analysis, X-53, Room 6407C, 400 7th 
Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20590 (202) 366-1061.
Patrick V. Murphy,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs.

Appendix

[Order 95-4-38; Docket 49814]

Waivers for Regional/Commuter Carriers from Certain Service Termination 
Notice Requirements; Final Order Granting Waiver

    By Order 94-10-5, October 6, 1994, the Department tentatively 
established criteria for granting waivers to regional/commuter 
carriers from the notice provision of the Federal Aviation 
Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-305). That 
law requires carriers to file a 45-day notice of their intention to 
suspend service at FAA-designated nonhub communities. However, it 
also instructed the Department to establish terms and conditions 
under which regional/commuter carriers were to be exempted from the 
notice requirement.\1\

    \1\P.L. 103-305 defines ``regional/commuter carriers'' as (a) 
all Part 135 carriers, and (b) Part 121 carriers whose operations 
consist entirely of service with aircraft with 70 or fewer passenger 
seats. An FAA-designated ``nonhub'' is a community that accounts for 
less than 0.05 percent of all revenue enplanements in the nation--
less than 234,157 enplanements during calendar year 1993, the most 
recent year for which data are available.
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    Order 94-10-5 proposed that the notice requirement should be 
waived for regional/commuter carriers under either of two scenarios: 
first, if the affected community would continue to receive scheduled 
service with jet aircraft; or second, if the affected community 
would continue to receive scheduled service from at least two other 
regional/commuter carriers. Thus, in situations where reasonable 
levels of capacity would remain in the form of at least one jet 
operator or at least two regional/commuter carriers, no 45-day 
notice would have been required.
    The Regional Airline Association (RAA) has responded to Order 
94-10-5 on behalf of its members. According to the RAA, the 
legislative history of Public Law 103-305 clearly suggests that the 
notice requirement is aimed at jet service, particularly at the 27 
nonhubs for which the Department has not established essential air 
service determinations.2 The RAA contends that, if the 
Department's proposed waiver criteria were finalized, the effect 
would be the creation of notice obligations at many nonhubs that are 
served exclusively by regional/commuter carriers. The RAA concludes 
that our proposed criteria would thus shift the main burden of the 
requirement from major carriers providing jet service at a small 
number of nonhubs, as intended by Congress, to many regional/
commuter carriers serving numerous small communities throughout the 
country.

    \2\The Appendix lists the 27 nonhubs at issue.
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    We agree with the RAA that our proposed criteria were 
unnecessarily narrow. The legislative history of Public Law 103-305 
indicates that the focus of Congress's concern was the abrupt loss 
of jet service at nonhubs for which we have not established 
essential air service determinations. Moreover, communities for 
which we have established determinations already enjoy the 
protections of the more stringent 90-day notice requirement and 
hold-in provisions contained in 49 U.S.C. 41734; application of the 
new 45-day notice in such cases would therefore be superfluous.
    Under these circumstances, we conclude that regional/commuter 
carriers should be subject to the 45-day notice requirement of 
Public Law 101-305 only at communities for which the Department has 
not established an essential air service determination. We will 
therefore grant a waiver from the notice requirement to regional/
commuter carriers serving nonhubs for which the Department has 
established a determination. In the latter cases, however, carriers 
should be mindful that they remain subject to the more stringent 
essential air service provisions contained in 49 U.S.C. 41734.
    The appendix to this order contains the nonhubs to which the 45-
day notice requirement continues to apply. We would stress, however, 
that this list is likely to change over time. Some communities may 
grow from nonhubs to small hubs while others shrink from small hubs 
to nonhubs, or we could ultimatey establish determinations for some 
communities that currently have none.

Accordingly,

    1. We grant a waiver from the 45-day notice requirement 
contained in the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act 
of 1994, Public Law 103-305, to all regional/commuter carriers 
insofar as it would apply to service at nonhub communities for which 
the Department has established essential air service determinations; 
[[Page 21581]] 
    2. We grant the motion for leave to file an otherwise 
unauthorized document by the Regional Airline Association in Docket 
49184; and
    3. We will publish a copy of this order in the Federal Register 
and serve a copy on the Regional Airline Association.
Patrick V. Murphy,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs.

Nonhubs for Which a 45-Day Notice Is Required

Ashland, Kentucky/Huntington, West Virginia
Bismarck/Mandan, North Dakota
Bristol/Kingsport/Johnson City, Tennessee
Bozeman, Montana
Butte, Montana
Caspar, Wyoming
Charleston/Dunbar, West Virginia
Evansville, Indiana
Fargo, North Dakota
Grand Forks, North Dakota
Grand Junction, Colorado
Great Falls, Montana
Helena, Montana
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Kalispell, Montana
Lincoln, Nebraska
Minot, North Dakota
Missoula, Montana
Monroe, Louisiana
Montgomery, Alabama
Peoria, Illinois
Rapid City, South Dakota
Rochester, Minnesota
Saginaw/Bay City/Midland, Michigan
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Sioux City, Iowa
Sioux Falls, South Dakota

[FR Doc. 95-10760 Filed 5-1-95; 8:45 am]
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