[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 166 (Thursday, August 27, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45894-45895]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-23080]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary
Federal Aviation Administration
[Docket No. OST 98-4025]


Request for Public Comment on Competitive Issues Affecting the 
Domestic Airline Industry

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Federal Aviation Administration, 
United States Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice extending comment period.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: On July 13, 1998, the Department of Transportation opened a 
public docket to receive information from interested parties on airport 
practices and their implications for competition among air carriers. 
Parties wishing to file comments with the Department were given until 
September 1, 1998. By this notice, the Department is extending the time 
period for public comment from September 1, 1998, until December 30, 
1998.

DATES: Comments should be received by December 30, 1998. Comments that 
are received after that date will be considered only to the extent 
possible.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information on the 
scope of the Department's study or the name of the individual in DOT 
who is in the best position to answer your questions, please contact 
either James New (202-366-4868) or Larry Phillips (202-366-4382). A 
copy of this Notice can be obtained via the World Wide Web at: http://
www.dot.gov/ost/aviation/. Comments placed in the docket will be 
available for viewing on the Internet.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department recently published a request 
for public comment on competitive issues affecting the domestic airline 
industry (63 FR 37612, July 13, 1998). In that request, we asked 
parties to provide us with detailed information on 14 specific issues 
that focus on airport practices and their impact on airline 
competition. Based on an August 6 petition of the Air Transport 
Association of America (ATA) to extend the comment period, as well as 
correspondence from the Airports

[[Page 45895]]

Council International, N.A. (ACI), we are now convinced that our 
original schedule for submission of this material was unrealistic.
    The ATA petitioned pursuant to the Department's Rulemaking 
Procedures (49 CFR 5.25(a)) to extend the comment period by at least 
120 days, to December 30, 1998 on the grounds that it needs time to 
prepare and conduct an extensive survey of airlines and airports, 
organize and analyze the data collected, and draft comments for 
approval by its members in response to the complex issues we raised. 
Stating that it does not wish to unduly delay this proceeding, ATA 
nevertheless argued that we have no regulatory deadline to meet and 
that it could be more helpful if it had more time to collect and 
analyze information. In further support of its petition, the ATA 
claimed it will need time to review our expected responses to its 
August 6 Freedom of Information Act requests for records pertinent to 
our Federal Register notice in this docket. Finally, the ATA requests a 
supplemental notice and comment period for our intended methodology for 
analyzing the information and data relevant to the competitive issues 
affecting the airline industry. ATA requested that we act within ten 
business days of its filing. The ATA stated that, since its member 
airlines serve, either directly or through code-share relationships, 
about 95 percent of the more than 400 domestic commercial service 
airports, it has a substantive interest in this proceeding.
    In a July 16 letter to us, the ACI said that our September 1 
deadline would not allow it adequate time to compile, verify and 
analyze pertinent information from airport operators and then prepare 
well-reasoned responses to the complex legal, economic, and policy 
questions identified.
    Under our rules (49 CFR 5.25(b)), we may grant a petition for 
extension of time when a petitioner shows that it is in the public 
interest and the petitioner has good cause for the extension and a 
substantive interest in the proposed action. We have determined that it 
would be reasonable and in the public interest to give parties more 
time to prepare their submissions. While we are interested in a prompt 
study of the competitive issues affecting the domestic airline 
industry, we realize that the industry needs additional time to 
formulate its comments, to issue surveys, and to process the survey 
results.
    Accordingly:
    1. We grant the request of the Air Transport Association to extend 
the date by which comments to Docket No. OST-98-4025 are due to 
December 30, 1998; and
    2. We deny all other requests.
Rosalind A. Knapp,
Deputy General Counsel, Department of Transportation.

Susan L. Kurland,
Associate Administrator for Airports, Federal Aviation Administration.
[FR Doc. 98-23080 Filed 8-26-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-62-P