[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 210 (Thursday, October 30, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 58700]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-28947]



[[Page 58700]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

14 CFR Part 255

[Docket No. OST-97-2881]
RIN 2105-AC65


Computer Reservations System (CRS) Regulations

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, (DOT).

ACTION: Notice extending comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Department has initiated a rulemaking to determine whether 
it should continue or modify its existing rules governing airline 
computer reservations systems (CRSs). On September 10, 1997, the 
Department published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking asking 
for comments on that matter. The Department is now extending the due 
date for comments and reply comments on the advance notice to December 
9, 1997, and January 23, 1998, from the original dates of November 10 
and December 9, 1997.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before December 9, 1997. Reply 
comments must be submitted on or before January 23, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be filed in Room PL-401, Docket OST-97-2881, 
U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 7th St. SW., Washington , DC 
20590. Late filed comments will be considered to the extent possible. 
To facilitate consideration of comments, each commenter should file six 
copies of its comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Ray, Office of the General 
Counsel, 400 Seventh St. SW., Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-4731.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department's rules governing CRS 
operations--14 CFR Part 255--will expire on December 31, 1997, unless 
the Department readopts them or changes the rules' termination date to 
a later date. The Department published an advance notice of proposed 
rulemaking to begin a proceeding for reexamining the rules and 
determining whether they should be readopted and, if so, whether they 
should be changed. 62 FR 47606, September 10, 1997. The advance notice 
made comments and reply comments due on November 10 and December 9, 
respectively. Sabre and Worldspan, two of the computer reservations 
systems, asked us to allow the parties to have an additional thirty to 
sixty days for preparing both their comments and reply comments. Sabre 
and Worldspan allege that the preparation of adequate comments on the 
complex issues presented in this rulemaking requires more time than the 
comment periods established by the advance notice. In addition, 
American Airlines has orally requested more time for preparing its 
responses to the advance notice.
    We have determined that it would be reasonable to give commenters 
more time for preparing their responses to the advance notice. The 
issues are complex, and some major issues, such as the impact of the 
Internet on airline distribution and the computer reservations system 
business, have not been addressed by us before in any formal 
proceeding. At the same time, we should complete our reexamination of 
the CRS rules as promptly as possible, given the need to update the 
rules in light of the changes in airline distribution and the CRS 
business since our adoption of the current rules in 1992.
    We will therefore give commenters an additional thirty days for the 
commments and fifteen days for reply comments.
    These extensions should give them ample time for preparing 
responses to our advance notice and the issues raised there and to the 
comments filed by other parties. The longer extensions requested by 
Sabre and Worldspan seem unnecessary--we did not set such lengthy 
comment periods when we last reexamined the CRS rules, and all major 
industry participants have been aware for some time that we would be 
conducting a proceeding to reexamine the need for the rules.
    Since neither Sabre nor Worldspan submitted a copy of its request 
to the docket for this proceeding, we have placed a copy of each 
request in the docket.

    Issued in Washington, D.C. on October 17, 1997.
Nancy E. McFadden,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 97-28947 Filed 10-29-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-62-P