[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 3 (Wednesday, January 5, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 555-557]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-165]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Bureau of Transportation Statistics


Agency Information Collection; Activity Under OMB Review; Report 
of Traffic and Capacity Statistics--The T-100 System

AGENCY: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public 
Law 104-13, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) invites the 
general public, industry and other Federal Agencies to comment on the 
continuing need for and usefulness of collecting market and segment 
traffic statistics from U.S. and foreign air carriers.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted by March 6, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be directed to: Office of Airline 
Information, K-25, Room 4125, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 
Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 
20590-0001, FAX NO. (202) 366-3383 or EMAIL [email protected].

COMMENTS: Comments should identify the OMB # 2138-0040 and submit a 
duplicate copy to the address listed above. Commenters wishing the 
Department to acknowledge receipt of their comments must submit with 
those comments a self-addressed stamped postcard on which the following 
statement is made: Comments on OMB # 2138-0040. The postcard will be 
date/time stamped and returned to the commenter.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bernie Stankus, Office of Airline 
Information, K-25, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001, (202) 366-4387.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

OMB Approval No. 2138-0040

    Title: Report of Traffic and Capacity Statistics--The T-100 System.
    Form No.: Schedule T-100 and Schedule T-100(f).
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: U.S. certificated and foreign air carriers.
    Number of Respondents: 90 U.S. certificated air carriers 176 
foreign air carriers.
    Number of Responses: 3192.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 10 hours per U.S. carrier 1.5 hours 
per foreign carrier.
    Total Annual Burden: 14,000 hours.
    Needs and Uses: Air services between the United States and most 
foreign countries are governed by bilateral aviation agreements. 
Evaluations of existing bilateral agreements and proposed changes to 
such agreements are based on a determination of the traffic and 
revenues between the United States and foreign countries for scheduled 
passenger and cargo flights as well as charter services. In order to 
determine conditions of reciprocity and the overall balance of trade, 
DOT conducts similar analyses for countries with which the United 
States does not have bilateral aviation agreements. Information used in 
these analyses includes traffic volume by countries and by city-pairs 
for passenger and cargo services and the corresponding traffic yields. 
Data such as passenger and cargo load factors, aircraft seating 
configurations, cargo capacities, and aircraft unit costs are also 
used.

Air Carrier Safety

    The Department is responsible for monitoring the safety levels and 
continuing fitness of individual air carrier operators. These programs 
conduct risk analysis and evaluations based on air carrier traffic and 
capacity statistics. For instance, if a carrier is rapidly expanding 
its operations, traffic data may indicate whether its expansion is 
exceeding its capacity for growth. Further, Departmental decisions as 
to the frequency and intensity of in-depth inspections are affected by 
such activity indicators.

International Routes

    In air carrier selection cases for limited entry international 
routes, the competing air carriers are required to submit an operating 
plan. To analyze a proposed operating plan, the Department uses current 
and historical traffic and capacity data of the applicant and other air 
carriers serving the relevant markets to determine the reliability of 
the applicant's financial and traffic forecasts and to evaluate the 
applicant's competing fare and service proposals.
    In a route case where an air carrier proposes ``primary service'' 
and ``behind gateway'' service, timely and consistent data are 
essential for the Department to respond to the procedural deadlines 
mandated by the Airline Deregulation Act in route application 
proceedings, such as the 150 days given to the Administrative Law Judge 
to receive evidence, conduct a hearing, and issue a Recommended 
Decision.

International/Alaska Mail Rates

    The Department is responsible for establishing international and 
intra-Alaska mail rates. Separate international mail rates are set 
based on scheduled operations in four geographic areas: Transborder, 
Latin America, the Atlantic, and the Pacific. The rate structure is 
updated biannually to reflect changes in unit costs in each ratemaking 
entity. In the rate-making process, the investment base and area cost 
calculations use traffic and capacity data, such as enplaned tons and 
available ton-miles, to develop the required unit cost data, as well as 
to evaluate the reasonableness of carrier cost allocations between 
entities.

International Fares and Rates

    The Department is charged with establishing regulatory benchmarks 
(zones of reasonableness) for its review of international fares and 
rates for passenger and cargo traffic, respectively. The benchmark for 
passenger fares is

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the Standard Foreign Fare Level (SFFL) and the benchmark for cargo 
rates is the Standard Foreign Rate Level (SFRL). Both establish levels 
below which proposed fares or rates normally will not be suspended. 
These standards rely upon cost and capacity data by entity (i.e., Latin 
America, Pacific and Atlantic), and require that such data be uniform 
among the various air carrier submissions.

Review of IATA Agreements

    The Department reviews all of the International Air Transport 
Association (IATA) agreements on fares, rates and rules governing 
international air transportation to ensure that such agreements meet 
the public interest criteria set forth in the Federal Aviation Act of 
1958, as amended (FAAct). Current and historical summary traffic and 
capacity data, such as revenue ton-miles and available ton-miles, by 
type of aircraft, type of service, and length of haul are needed in 
these analyses: (1) To develop the volume elements that are required 
for making various passenger/cargo cost allocations, (2) to evaluate 
fluctuations in volume of scheduled and charter services, (3) to assess 
the competitive impact of different operations such as charter versus 
scheduled, (4) to calculate load factors by aircraft type, and (5) to 
monitor traffic in specific markets.

Foreign Air Carriers Applications

    Foreign air carriers are required to submit to the Department 
applications for operating authority to the United States. In reviewing 
foreign air carrier applications, the Department must find that the 
requested authority is encompassed in a bilateral aviation agreement or 
other intergovernmental understanding, or, in the absence of such an 
agreement or an understanding, that granting the application is 
consistent with the public interest. In these latter cases, T-100 data 
are used in assessing the level of benefits that carriers of the 
applicant's homeland presently are receiving from their United States 
operations. In addition, those benefits, coupled with the value of the 
authority requested by the applicant carrier, are compared to the 
benefits accruing to U.S. carriers from their operations in the 
applicant's homeland. This assessment is critical in making the 
necessary public interest determination.

Air Carrier Fitness

    The Department is required to determine whether or not applicants 
for certificate authority are fit, willing and able to conduct the 
proposed level of service, and whether current certificate holders 
remain fit. The requirement also applies to all established air 
carriers that propose a substantial change in operations, or whose 
certificates have been dormant for over one year and want to resume 
service.
    In air carrier fitness determinations, T-100 nonstop segment and 
on-flight market statistics are reviewed to analyze an air carrier's 
level of traffic and capacity. Load factors (passenger and cargo) are 
compared with those of other air carriers with similar operating 
characteristics, and used to assess trends in the level of operations.

Acquisitions and Mergers

    While the Justice Department has primary responsibility over air 
carrier acquisitions and mergers, the Department reviews the transfer 
of international routes involved in acquisitions and mergers to 
determine if they would substantially reduce competition, or if they in 
some other way would be inconsistent with the public interest. In 
making these determinations, the proposed transaction's effect on 
competition in the markets served by the affected air carriers is 
analyzed. This analysis includes, among other things, a consideration 
of the volume of traffic and available capacity, the flight segments 
and origins-destinations involved, and the existence of entry barriers, 
such as limited airport slots or gate capacity. Also included is a 
review of the volume of traffic handled by each air carrier at specific 
airports and in specific markets which would be affected by the 
proposed acquisition or merger.
    The Justice Department also uses T-100 data in carrying out its 
responsibilities relating to airline competition and consolidation.

Airline Industry Status Evaluations

    The Department apprizes Congress, the Administration and others of 
the effect major changes or innovations are having on the air 
transportation industry. For this purpose, summary traffic and capacity 
data as well as the detailed segment and market data are essential. 
These data must be timely to be relevant for analyzing emerging issues 
and must be based upon uniform and reliable data submissions that are 
consistent with the Department's regulatory requirements.

Safety Surveillance and Inspection/Operational Safety Analysis

    The FAA uses summary traffic and capacity statistics and total 
airborne hours, broken down by air carrier, as important safety 
indicators. The FAA uses these data in allocating inspection resources 
and in making decisions as to increased safety surveillance. Similarly, 
airport activity statistics are used by the FAA to develop airport 
profiles and establish priorities for airport inspections.

Safety Forecasting and Regulatory Analysis

    The FAA uses summary traffic, capacity and airport activity 
statistics to prepare the air carrier traffic and operation forecasts 
that are used in developing its budget and staffing plans, facility and 
equipment funding levels, and environmental impact and policy studies.

National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems

    The FAA is responsible for preparing and updating the National Plan 
of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS), a 10-year planning document, 
that forecasts the developmental needs for maintaining and upgrading 
the national system of integrated airports. Reported air carrier 
traffic and capacity data are used to continuously update the NPIAS for 
system changes such as current air carrier hub transportation 
practices. In projecting future airport service levels and the impact 
of seasonal flight schedule adjustments on operations, the aircraft 
types handled and services available by airport are considered.

System Planning at Airports

    Under the Airport and Airways Improvement Act of 1982 (Pub. L. 97-
248), the FAA is charged with administering a series of grants that are 
designed to accomplish the necessary airport planning for future 
development and growth. These grants are made to state, metropolitan, 
and regional aviation authorities to fund needed airport systems 
planning work. Individual airport activity statistics, nonstop market 
data and service segment data are used to prepare airport activity 
level forecasts.

Airport Capacity Analysis

    Aircraft type operating data (the mix of aircraft at an airport) 
are used in determining the practical annual capacity (PANCAP) at 
airports as prescribed in FAA Advisory Circular ``Airport Capacity 
Criteria Used in Preparing the National Airport Plan.'' The PANCAP is a 
safety-related benchmark measure of the annual airport capacity or 
level of operations. It is a predictive measure which indicates 
potential capacity problems, delays, and possible airport expansion or 
runway construction needs. If the level of

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operations at an airport exceeds PANCAP significantly, the frequency 
and length of delays will increase, with a potential concurrent risk of 
accidents. Under this program, FAA develops ways of increasing airport 
capacity at congested airports.

Airport Improvement

    The Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982 includes a revenue 
passenger enplanement formula that is used by the FAA to allocate 
airport improvement program (entitlement) funds to owners of primary 
airports. A primary airport is one which accounts for more than 0.01 
percent of the total passengers enplaned at U.S. airports. The 
passenger enplanement data, both summary and by airport, contained in 
T-100, T-100(f) and the supplementary schedules are used in calculating 
the monies due each primary airport. The T-100 System is the sole data 
base used by FAA in determining U.S. certificated and foreign air 
carrier enplanements.

War Air Service Program

    The Department is responsible under Executive Order 11490, as 
amended, for emergency preparedness planning in the event of war or 
national emergency. To fulfill its mobilization responsibilities for 
airlift in the event of a national emergency, the Department needs 
timely traffic and capacity data. Data elements used in assessing total 
available airlift capacity include for each aircraft operator: the 
number of aircraft by type, the airframe license number, the payload or 
capacity (passenger and/or cargo), and whether or not the aircraft is 
approved for over-water operations. Revenue aircraft miles, revenue 
aircraft hours (airborne), aircraft fuels issued (gallons), aircraft 
days assigned to service, and aircraft hours (ramp-to-ramp) are also 
needed for each reported aircraft type to assess aircraft fleet 
mobilization characteristics and capabilities.

International Civil Aviation Organization

    Under Article 67 of the 1944 Chicago Convention, the United States 
is obligated to report certain individual U.S. air carrier data to the 
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Much of the traffic 
data supplied to ICAO are extracted from T-100 and the supplementary 
schedules.
Donald W. Bright,
Acting Director, Office of Airline Information, Bureau of 
Transportation Statistics.
[FR Doc. 00-165 Filed 1-4-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-FE-P