[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 124 (Tuesday, June 29, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 34747-34748]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-16505]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
14 CFR Part 298
[Docket No. OST-98-4043]
RIN No. 2105-AC71
Meeting To Discuss Ways To Improve the Alaska Commuter and Small
Certificated Air Carrier Data Collection Program
AGENCY: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of meeting.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) collects financial
and traffic data from various types of air carriers. DOT announces a
forthcoming meeting to discuss ways to improve this program as it
relates to Alaska small certificated and commuter air carriers. The
meeting is being held jointly with the U.S. Postal Service.
DATES: The meeting will be held Thursday, July 22, 1999, 8 a.m. to 5
p.m. and Friday, July 23, 1999, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Alaska time.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will take place in the US Postal Service
Conference Room at the Anchorage Processing and Distribution Center,
4141 Postmark Drive, Anchorage, AK 99502. Attendance is open to the
interested public but limited to space available. If you plan to attend
the meeting please contact Kevin Adams by July 8, 1999. Persons with a
disability requiring special services, such as an interpreter for the
hearing impaired, should contact Mr. Adams at least seven days prior to
the meeting.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin Adams, EAS & Domestic Analysis
Division, X-53, Office of Aviation Analysis, Office of the Secretary,
US Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street SW, Washington D.C.
20590; by phone at (202) 366-1047; by e-mail at
[email protected]; or by Fax at (202) 366-7638.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
49 U.S.C. 329(b)(1) requires the Department of Transportation to
collect and disseminate information on civil aeronautics, other than
that collected and disseminated by the National Transportation Safety
Board. In meeting this responsibility, the Department collects traffic
and financial data submitted under 14 CFR part 241 (Large Certificated
Air Carriers) and 14 CFR part 298 (Commuter and Small Certificated Air
Carriers). It also collects
[[Page 34748]]
certain other traffic and service quality data under 14 CFR parts 217,
234, 250, and 374a.
The Department in Docket No. OST-98-4043, Notice 98-18, ``Aviation
Data Requirements Review and Modernization Program'' on its own
initiative requested public comments from reporting carriers and
aviation data users on the nature, scope, source, and means for
collecting, processing, and distributing airline traffic, fare, and
financial data. Specifically, the Department invited comments on
whether existing airline traffic, fare, and financial data should be
amended, supplemented, or replaced; whether selected forms and reports
should be retained, modified, or eliminated; whether the Department
should require all aviation data to be filed electronically; and how
the aviation data system should be reengineered to enhance efficiency
and to reduce costs for both the Department and the airline industry.
It is the Department's preliminary position that its current aviation
data systems may not provide sufficiently detailed data in some areas
which are necessary to ensure that the Department fully meets its
mandated aviation responsibilities. One of these responsibilities is
the setting of the Alaska bush mail rates. The Department relies on
data submitted by the Alaska small certificated and commuter air
carriers on the Form 298-C reports to set the bush mail rates. While
this meeting will be held as part of the Advanced Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking to review the Department's aviation data collection process,
its focus will be on the data collection process for Form 298-C
reports. A summary of the meeting will be included in the docket.
DOT, the Postal Service, Alaska air carriers, and other interested
entities will review and discuss possible revisions to 14 CFR part 298
(the Department's Form 298-C reporting requirements). The meeting will
assess how the Form 298-C data reporting system can be reengineered to
enhance the usefulness of the data collected in facilitating the Alaska
bush mail rate calculations while at the same time exploring
alternatives for reducing costs for the Department, the Postal Service,
and the airline industry. The meeting will be open to the public. We
particularly solicit participation from those Alaska small certificated
and commuter air carriers who currently transport or wish to transport
mail for the U.S. Postal Service in Alaska.
Issued in Washington, DC, on June 24, 1999.
Timothy E. Carmody,
Director, Office of Airline Information, Bureau of Transportation
Statistics.
[FR Doc. 99-16505 Filed 6-28-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-FE-P