[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 31 (Thursday, February 14, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 6892-6900]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-3216]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

14 CFR Part 382

[OST Docket No. 2002-11473]
RIN 2105-AD04


Reporting Requirements for Disability-Related Complaints

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).

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SUMMARY: This document proposes to require most certificated U.S. air 
carriers and foreign air carriers operating to and from the U.S. that 
conduct passenger-carrying service to record and categorize complaints 
that they receive alleging inadequate accessibility or discrimination 
on the basis of disability according to the type of disability and 
nature of complaint, prepare a summary report of those complaints, 
submit the report annually to the Department of Transportation's 
(Department or DOT) Aviation Consumer Protection Division, and retain 
copies of correspondence and record of action taken on disability-
related complaints for three years. Under procedures established by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before seeking OMB approval to collect 
information from the public, Federal agencies must solicit public 
comment on proposed collections of information.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding this 
proposal and comments must be received on or before April 15, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Comments on this notice of proposed rulemaking must refer to 
the docket and notice numbers cited at the beginning of this document 
and be submitted to the Docket Management Facility of the Office of the 
Secretary (OST), located on the Plaza Level of the Nassif Building at 
the U.S. Department of Transportation, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, 
SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. The DOT Docket Facility is open to the 
public from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Blane A. Workie, Office of the General 
Counsel, Department of Transportation, 400 7th Street, SW., Room 4116, 
Washington, DC, 20590, 202-366-9342 (voice), (202) 366-0511 (TTY), 202-
366-7152 (fax), or [email protected] (e-mail). Arrangements to 
receive this document in an alternative format may be made by 
contacting the above named individual.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA, 49 U.S.C. 41705) prohibits 
discriminatory treatment of persons with disabilities in air 
transportation. The Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act 
for the 21st Century (``AIR-21''; Public Law 106-181), signed into law 
on April 5, 2000, extended the requirements of the Air Carrier Access 
Act to cover foreign air carriers and required, among other things, 
that the Secretary of Transportation ``regularly review all complaints 
received by air carriers alleging discrimination on the basis of 
disability'' and ``report annually to Congress on the results of such 
review.'' The only practical way the Department can implement the 
statutory requirement to review disability complaints received by air 
carriers and report annually to Congress on the results of the review 
is by requiring carriers to record and submit disability-related 
complaint data to the Department.

The NPRM

    In an effort to implement the statutory requirements of AIR-21, the 
Department proposes to require most U.S. air carriers and foreign air 
carriers to record disability-related complaints that they receive and 
categorize them in specific groups, submit these data annually to the 
Department, and retain copies of the disability-related complaints and 
a record of action for a period of time. The NPRM has six main 
components on which we specifically solicit comment: (1) The scope/
coverage of the rule; (2) the definition of a disability-related 
complaint; (3) the categories of data collected; (4) the frequency of 
data reporting; (5) the procedures for submission of data; and (6) the 
period of record retention.

A. Scope

    Under the proposed rule, certificated air carriers that conduct 
passenger-carrying service would be required to

[[Page 6893]]

record, categorize, and submit disability-related complaint data. A 
certificated air carrier means a U.S. direct air carrier holding a 
certificate issued under 49 U.S.C. 41102 to conduct passenger and/or 
cargo and mail operations, or holding an exemption to conduct direct 
passenger operation under 49 U.S.C. 40109. By definition, a 
certificated air carrier does not include air taxi operators or 
commuter air carriers operating under 14 CFR part 298. Some air 
carriers that would be eligible for air taxi or commuter status have 
voluntarily chosen to become certificated for operational, legal or 
public relations reasons.
    The proposed rule would not apply to any flights performed by a 
commuter air carrier, air taxi operator, or certificated air carrier 
operating only ``small aircraft'' (aircraft with 60 or fewer seats) 
under 14 CFR part 298. However, if an airline operates both large 
aircraft (aircraft with more than 60 seats) and small aircraft, then 
all flights of that airline are covered regardless of the size of the 
aircraft used on a particular flight. Currently, there are 
approximately 123 certificated air carriers that hold authority to 
conduct passenger-carrying service, of which 64 operate large aircraft 
and 59 operate only small aircraft.
    The Department is proposing to apply the rule only to carriers 
operating larger than 60-seat aircraft, i.e., excluding all commuter 
carriers and certificated carriers operating only small aircraft, 
because large certificated air carriers carry 85 percent of the 
domestic traffic and the Regulatory Flexibility Act encourages agencies 
to consider flexible approaches to the regulation of small businesses 
and other small entities that take into account their special needs and 
problems. The approach taken in this NPRM of exempting carriers 
operating only small aircraft is consistent with the Department's 
policy of exempting small entities from regulations when possible. 
However, we specifically request comment as to whether the Department 
should expand coverage of the rule to include certificated air carriers 
operating only aircraft with 60 or fewer seats, commuter carriers, or 
even air taxi operators.
    This NPRM also proposes to require foreign air carriers operating 
to and from the United States that conduct passenger-carrying service 
to record, categorize and submit disability-related complaint data. The 
proposed rule would not apply to flights of foreign airlines between 
two foreign points. A foreign air carrier means a direct air carrier 
that is not a citizen of the United States as defined in 49 U.S.C. 
40102(a) that holds a foreign air carrier permit issued under 49 U.S.C. 
41302 or an exemption issued under 49 U.S.C. 40109 authorizing direct 
foreign air transportation. The proposed rule would exempt foreign air 
carriers that are operating only small aircraft (i.e., aircraft 
designed to have a maximum passenger capacity of 60 or fewer seats or a 
maximum payload capacity of not more than 18,000 pounds). These 
airlines are primarily trans-border air taxis operating between the 
U.S. and Canada, and to a lesser extent between the U.S. and Mexico and 
the U.S. and the Caribbean. If a foreign airline, such as Air Canada, 
operates both large and small airplanes, the flights on the small 
airplanes would still be covered because the airline holds authority to 
fly large airplanes. The foreign air carriers that we propose to cover 
are as similar as possible to U.S. air carriers that we propose to 
cover considering the different legal authority applicable to foreign 
operators.
    Currently, there are 306 foreign air carriers that hold effective 
economic authority from the Department to serve the United States under 
49 U.S.C. 41301 and/or 40109. Of these, 231 hold authority to operate 
large aircraft using their own aircraft and crews. See OST Docket 2001-
10416, DOT Order 2001-8-15. The other 75 are either foreign air 
carriers that operate only small aircraft or foreign air carriers that 
conduct U.S. operations by wet lease, in which both an aircraft and 
crew are leased from a U.S. carrier or from a foreign carrier whose 
government aviation authority is in compliance with International Civil 
Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards. This NPRM proposes to cover the 
231 foreign air carriers that operate large aircraft using their own 
aircraft and crews, and the small number of foreign air carriers that 
operate large aircraft under a wet-lease arrangement with an acceptable 
carrier to enable their airlines to fly into the United States. Under 
the wet-lease arrangement, it is the operating carrier (lessee) and not 
the airline that is providing the aircraft and crew (lessor) that is 
responsible for recording disability-related complaint data and 
submitting such data to the Department in an annual report.

B. Definition of Disability-Related Complaint

    Because this proposed rule would require covered carriers to 
record, categorize, and submit disability-related complaint data, it is 
important that the phrase ``disability-related complaint'' be defined. 
For purposes of this NPRM, a disability-related complaint is a specific 
expression of dissatisfaction received from, or submitted on behalf of, 
an individual with a disability against a covered air carrier or 
foreign air carrier concerning a difficulty associated with the 
person's disability, which the person experienced when using or 
attempting to use the carrier's services. A complaint may be made by 
letter, comment card, e-mail, telephone call, or in person.
    A given contact (e.g., a letter, e-mail message, or phone call) 
might express more than one complaint. Each disability-related 
complaint contained in a given contact must be categorized and 
reported. Service-related complaints (e.g., a late flight, a delayed 
refund) that have nothing to do with an individual's disability should 
not be reported to the Department simply because they were made by, or 
on behalf of, an individual with a disability. When an individual with 
a disability complains about disability-related matters as well as 
matters that are not related to his or her disability, the disability-
related complaint(s) must be categorized and reported; the complaint(s) 
that are not related to the disability are not to be categorized or 
reported under the proposed rule.
    In circumstances where a flight that is the subject of a 
disability-related complaint was a code-sharing flight, the 
determination of which carrier must report the complaint is driven by 
passenger perception of the identity of the carrier responsible for the 
problem. For example, if a passenger flies with ABC Airways from 
Charlottesville to Washington, DC with a connection from Washington to 
New York on XYZ Airways (ABC's code-sharing partner), and the passenger 
has disability-related problems on the ABC Airways portion of the 
journey but sends a complaint to XYZ Airways, XYZ Airways must record 
and categorize the complaint and report that complaint. When an 
individual with a disability complains to a carrier about a disability-
related difficulty encountered in connection with service provided by 
that carrier's code-sharing partner, the carrier that received the 
complaint should report the complaint since the passenger perceives 
that carrier as being ultimately responsible for the difficulty.
    In a code sharing situation, we are proposing to require that the 
carrier that receives the complaint from the passenger report the 
complaint because code-share flights are often marketed by U.S. 
carriers as their own service. Code sharing is a common industry 
practice in which one airline offers service in its

[[Page 6894]]

own name to a particular city, but some or all of the transportation is 
provided by another carrier. The two-character airline designator code 
that is used to identify these flights in schedules and on tickets is 
the code of the carrier whose name is used rather than that of the 
carrier actually providing the service. It is important to keep in mind 
that we are not proposing, in circumstances where a carrier receives a 
complaint involving another carrier with whom it does not have a code-
sharing relationship, that the carrier that received the complaint 
report that complaint to DOT. In such situations, the carrier would 
simply forward the complaint to the carrier that is responsible for the 
airline service.
    Disability-related complaints must also be recorded and reported 
without regard to the carrier's perception of the validity of the 
complaint--i.e., carriers must record and report complaints that they 
believe are not justified, as well as complaints about disability-
related incidents that do not constitute a violation of the 
Department's rule on air travel by passengers with disabilities. The 
proposed rule would require that all disability-related complaint data, 
regardless of the manner in which a disability-related complaint is 
submitted or the validity of the complaint, be recorded and categorized 
by the covered carriers so that the Department can monitor disability 
complaints received by carriers and report annually to Congress. The 
Department seeks comments on all of these proposed procedures and 
definitions.

C. Categories of Data Collected

    We propose to require covered carriers to record and categorize 
disability-related complaints that they receive in a manner similar to 
the way disability-related complaints are recorded and categorized by 
the Department's Aviation Consumer Protection Division (ACPD). That 
division maintains a database covering all of the service-related air 
travel complaints received by the Department against airlines, 
including disability-related complaints. Disability-related complaints 
have two core elements: the nature of the passenger's disability and 
the nature of the alleged discrimination or service problem related to 
the disability. ACPD uses the following 13 categories to identify the 
nature of a passenger's disability: vision impaired, hearing impaired, 
vision and hearing impaired, mentally impaired, communicable disease, 
allergies (e.g., food allergies, chemical sensitivity), paraplegic, 
quadriplegic, other wheelchair, oxygen, stretcher, other assistive 
device (cane, respirator, etc.), and other disability. ACPD also 
categorizes the alleged discrimination or service problems related to 
the disability in the following 12 areas: refusal to board, refusal to 
board without an attendant, security issues concerning disability, 
aircraft not accessible, airport not accessible, advance-notice 
dispute, seating accommodation, failure to provide adequate or timely 
assistance, problem with storage/damage/delay relating to assistive 
device, service animal problem, unsatisfactory information, and 
``other.'' We are proposing that carriers use the Department's 
complaint categories to identify the types of complaints that they 
receive according to the passenger's disability and the nature of the 
grievance.
    It is important to keep in mind that a contact from a passenger may 
express more than one complaint (i.e., more than one service problem) 
and a passenger may have more than one disability. We are proposing 
that in recording and categorizing complaints, carriers treat each 
disability-related problem as a separate incident, determine the type 
of service problem for each incident, and then settle on the primary 
disability that needed to be accommodated for each incident. For 
instance, consider the example of Jane, who is deaf and a wheelchair 
user. Jane sends a complaint to ABC Airlines alleging that there was a 
failure to provide her with ground personnel to assist in pushing the 
wheelchair at three of the airports through which she traveled and she 
missed her flight at the fourth airport because the gate agent did not 
let her know when she should board the aircraft. The carrier should 
count these disability-related problems as four separate incidents 
(i.e., four complaints) and should categorize each of them as ``Failure 
to Provide Assistance.'' In this hypothetical, the carrier should 
determine that the primary disability that needed to be accommodated 
for three of the incidents (failure to provide personnel to assist in 
pushing the wheelchair at three airports) is Jane's mobility 
impairment, and the primary disability that needed to be accommodated 
for the other incident (failure to inform Jane about the boarding for 
her flight) is Jane's deafness. In some cases, it could be more 
difficult to determine how to select among the 13 categories 
identifying the passenger's disability and the 12 areas identifying the 
service problem. We would expect carriers to use reasonableness as a 
standard in making these determinations. Clearly, the failure to record 
complaints would be more problematic than would be the occasional 
failure to properly categorize a complaint because of the judgmental 
issues involved. We request comment as to whether we should include 
additional categories for types of disabilities and/or nature of 
complaints.

D. Frequency of Data Reporting

    The proposed rule would require the covered carriers to group 
disability-related complaints that they receive in specific categories. 
We estimate that air carriers receive about fifty times more 
disability-related complaints directly from passengers than the 
Department receives. During the discovery phase of a private lawsuit 
against one major air carrier, it was revealed that the carrier, for 
the period between January 1993 and November 1996, received a total of 
5,072 disability-related complaints while DOT received a total of only 
142 such complaints against that carrier. Enforcing the Civil Rights of 
Air Travelers with Disabilities: Recommendations for the Department of 
Transportation and Congress, National Council on Disability, February 
26, 1999, p. 68. In other words, this airline received about 35 
disability-related complaints directly from passengers for every 
disability-related complaint received by DOT against that airline. 
However, the disability complaint data received by DOT during its own 
enforcement investigations suggest that air carriers may receive up to 
a hundred times more disability complaints directly from passengers 
than the Department receives. Based on complaint data produced by one 
airline during the discovery phase of litigation and airline complaint 
data gathered by the Department during its enforcement investigations, 
our best estimate is that air carriers receive about fifty disability-
related complaint for every disability-related complaint received by 
the Department.
    During the 2000 calendar year, the ACPD received a total of 661 
disability-related air travel complaints. Assuming that carriers 
receive about fifty times more disability-related complaints than the 
Department, we deduce that carriers receive a total of approximately 
33,050 disability-related complaints each calendar year. The proposed 
rule would require the covered carriers to categorize each of these 
projected 33,050 disability-related complaints according to the 
passenger's disability and the alleged discrimination or service 
problem related to the disability. We solicit comments as to the 
reasonableness of the Department's

[[Page 6895]]

estimate of the number of disability-related complaints carriers 
receive each year.
    The NPRM also proposes that carriers annually submit a report 
summarizing the disability-related complaint data to the Department of 
Transportation. We are proposing that the first report summarizing 
disability-related complaint data to the Department of Transportation 
be submitted by January 26, 2004, for complaints received by carriers 
during the calendar year 2003. All subsequent submissions will be due 
on the last Monday in January and would cover data from the prior 
calendar year. We request comments as to whether annual submission of 
disability-related complaint data is appropriate or if there are 
reasons to increase the reporting frequency, e.g. require biannual or 
quarterly reports. Commenters suggesting increased reporting frequency 
should include cost estimates.

E. Procedures for Submission of Data

    Another important provision of the NPRM concerns the procedure for 
reporting the disability-related complaint information. The NPRM 
proposes to require carriers to report a summary of the disability-
related complaint data to ACPD in a particular manner, using a 
disability-related complaint data form identical to the one in the 
proposed new section 382.70 rather than allowing each airline to 
develop its own data collection form. In addition, the proposed rule 
would mandate that carriers submit this disability-related complaint 
data via a form on the World Wide Web rather than submitting paper 
copies, disks, or e-mail. The NPRM does provide for limited exceptions 
in situations where the carrier can demonstrate that it would suffer 
undue hardship if it were not permitted to submit paper copies or disks 
of the disability-related complaint data form, or to e-mail the data.
    To ensure that using the Web to submit disability complaint 
information would be easy, reliable, and secure, a specific web page 
with a registration system and the disability-related complaint data 
form would be established and its web address would be furnished to the 
covered carriers. Each carrier would only have to register once. 
Registering would consist of inputting the name and mailing address of 
the carrier; the name, telephone number, and e-mail address of a 
contact person for that carrier; a login name; and a password. Upon 
providing this information, carriers would receive an automatic 
computerized acknowledgment that their request for registration has 
been received. Shortly thereafter, officials from the Department would 
validate the information received and the carrier would be informed 
that the registration process has been completed. Each carrier would 
use its login name and password to access the disability-related 
complaint data form, fill out and edit the form, and submit the form to 
the Department.
    We believe that completing the disability complaint data form, like 
registering, would not be a difficult task for the carriers. To 
complete the form, each carrier would insert the total number of 
disability-related incidents for each specific category. For example, 
if a covered carrier receives a total of 5 contacts about 8 separate 
incidents (8 complaints) of failure to provide bulkhead seating for 
passengers who have a fused knee, then the carrier would insert the 
number ``8'' in the box where the ``Seating Accommodation'' row 
intersects the ``Other Disability'' column. In a similar fashion, the 
carrier would add up the total number of incidents for the other 
categories and insert the appropriate number in each of the boxes. 
Every box in the form should have a number in it. If the carrier does 
not have any incidents to report in a particular area, the carrier 
should insert the number ``0''. The proposed rule would also require 
the covered carrier to include on the form the name and mailing address 
of the carrier, information about the contact person for the carrier, 
the telephone number for the contact person, the submission date for 
the form, the period of data collection, the total number of incidents/
complaints for the period covered, and a certification that all entries 
made by the authorized representative of the carrier are true and 
correct.

F. Retention of Records

    The NPRM proposes to require the covered carriers to retain copies 
of the disability-related complaints for three years. Currently, the 
Department's regulations in 14 CFR 249.20 require only certificated 
U.S. air carriers to retain correspondence and record of action taken 
on all consumer complaints for three years. This NPRM proposes to 
require that foreign air carriers operating to and from the United 
States that conduct passenger-carrying service with large aircraft also 
retain correspondence and record of action taken on all disability-
related complaints related to their U.S. service for three years. In 
addition, we propose to require the covered carriers make these records 
available for review by Department of Transportation officials at their 
request.

Regulatory Analysis and Notices

Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review) and DOT 
Regulatory Policies and Procedures

    This proposal, if adopted as a final rule, would not be 
``significant'' under Executive Order 12866 or the Department of 
Transportation Regulatory Policies and Procedures because the cost 
resulting from this action would be minimal since most air carriers 
already record and categorize data about disability related complaints 
that they receive. The primary cost imposed by this notice of proposed 
rulemaking (NPRM) is the time to read, categorize, and record the 
disability complaint correspondence that the carriers receive. While we 
believe that the carriers are already performing these functions, we 
have included these expenses in the regulatory analysis.
    In the year 2000, ACPD received complaints for 661 incidents from 
people with disabilities concerning airline service difficulties. We 
estimate that there were approximately 33,050 disability incidents in 
2000 based on our assumption that airlines receive 50 disability 
complaints for each disability complaint received by ACPD. Some of the 
air carriers may receive only one complaint a year while some of the 
larger operators could receive 4000 annual complaints. Using a zero 
base review, we estimate that on average it will take 15 minutes per 
complaint to read or listen to the complaint and properly categorize 
the incident or incidents. We expect that it would take 8,262 hours to 
review all of the complaints. (15 minutes  x  33,050 complaints). We 
have assigned an annual industry cost of $206,550 ($25 dollars per hour 
 x  8,262 hours) for this burden.
    The carriers that receive a high volume of disability related 
complaints will most likely set up a computerized program to automate 
their data collection. Of the 661 incidents mentioned above, 84% of 
them were against 10 carriers. As a result, we estimate that 10 to 15 
carriers will expend a one time total of 2 hours to program an 
automated system. For those carriers that set up an automated system to 
record the complaints, we estimate an industry cost of $2,000 to 
$3,000. This estimate is based on an assumption of $100 for each 
programming hour ($100  x  20 to 30 hours). This would be a one-time 
only expense.
    The one-time cost for the industry to register on the web is 
estimated to range from $1,844 to $2,313, based on our estimate that it 
will take approximately 15 minute to register on the web for the

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295 to 370 respondents at a cost of $25 per hour ($25  x  15 minutes 
x  295 to 370 air carriers). In order to register, carriers would need 
to input the following information: carrier name, carrier address, 
contact person, telephone number of contact person, e-mail address of 
contact person, login name, and password.
    The industry's annual cost to key punch its reports onto the web 
based form is estimated to range from $3,688 to $4,625. Once again we 
used a $25 per burden hour estimate and calculate it will take 30 
minutes to type in the 156 data items ($25  x  30 minutes  x  295 to 
370 air carriers).
    The annual cost for foreign carriers to comply with the record 
retention requirement is estimated to range from $28,875 to $38,250. 
This estimation is based on our expectation that this requirement will 
place a one hour annual burden on each foreign air carrier, storage 
fees of $100 dollars per carrier, and a $25 per carrier hour filing 
expense {($100 + $25)  x  1 hour  x  231 to 306 air carriers}.
    As a result, the first year total cost to the industry of the rule 
proposed in this NPRM will range from $242,957 to $254,738. After the 
first year, the annual cost should range from $239,113 to $249,425. The 
average annual cost per carrier should be approximately $674 ($249,425 
divided by 370 air carriers). However, the carrier cost range would run 
from a low of $25 for a carrier with a very small complaint total to a 
high of slightly over $10,000 for those carriers receiving 4,000 annual 
complaints.
    This NPRM, if adopted, would benefit passengers with disabilities 
partly because, in addition to reporting annually to Congress, the 
Department expects to make the data on complaints received by carriers 
alleging discrimination on the basis of disability available to the 
general public. Passengers with disabilities will be able to compare 
carrier complaints related to the type of disabilities that they may 
have. Also, the data will provide the Department useful information to 
monitor air carrier compliance with the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA, 
49 U.S.C. 41705), which prohibits discriminatory treatment of persons 
with disabilities in air transportation. While the benefits of the 
rulemaking are intangible, it is our belief these benefits outweigh the 
minimal reporting costs. The Office of the Secretary has prepared and 
placed in the docket a regulatory evaluation for the proposed rule, 
which explains the costs and benefits of the rule in more detail.

Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)

    This NPRM has been analyzed in accordance with the principles and 
criteria contained in Executive Order 13132 (``Federalism''). This 
notice of proposed rulemaking would not (1) have a substantial direct 
effect on the States, the relationship between the national government 
and the States, or the distribution of power and responsibilities among 
the various levels of government; (2) impose substantial direct 
compliance costs on state and local governments; or (3) preempt state 
law. Therefore, the consultation and funding requirements of Executive 
Order 13132 do not apply.

Executive Order 13084

    This notice of proposed rulemaking has been analyzed in accordance 
with the principles and criteria contained in Executive Order 13084 
(``Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments''). 
Because this NPRM does not significantly or uniquely affect the 
communities of the Indian tribal governments and does not impose 
substantial direct compliance costs, the funding and consultation 
requirements of Executive Order 13084 do not apply.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) requires an 
agency to review regulations to assess their impact on small entities 
unless the agency determines that a rule is not expected to have a 
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. We hereby 
certify that the rule proposed in this notice of proposed rulemaking 
will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities. A direct air carrier or a foreign air carrier is a 
small business if it provides air transportation only with small 
aircraft. See 14 CFR 399.73. The proposed rule does not apply to U.S. 
and foreign air carriers that are operating only a small aircraft 
(i.e., aircraft designed to have a maximum passenger capacity of not 
more than 60 seats or a maximum payload capacity of not more than 
18,000 pounds). Moreover, the economic impact of the proposed rule is 
minimal.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This NPRM contains information collections that are subject to 
review by OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Public Law 
104-13). Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before an agency 
submits a proposed collection of information to OMB for approval, it 
must publish a document in the Federal Register providing a 60-day 
comment period and otherwise consult with members of the public and 
affected agencies concerning each proposed collection of information.
    Interested parties are invited to send comments regarding any 
aspect of this information collection, including: (1) The necessity and 
utility of the information collection; (2) the accuracy of the 
estimated burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 
of the collected information; and (4) ways to minimize the collection 
burden without reducing the quality of the collected information. 
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and/or 
included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection.
    This NPRM proposes three information collection requirements: (1) A 
proposal for carriers to record and categorize disability-related 
complaints that they receive according to type of disability and nature 
of complaint on a standard form; (2) a proposal for each covered 
carrier to submit an annual report summarizing the disability-related 
complaint data; and (3) a proposal for carriers to retain 
correspondence and record of action taken for all disability-related 
complaints. The Department will use the data submitted by carriers to 
report annually to Congress on the results of its review as required by 
law.
    The title, description, and respondent description of the 
information collections and an estimate of the annual recordkeeping and 
periodic reporting burden are stated below.
    (1) Requirement to read, record and categorize each disability 
related complaint from a passenger or on behalf of a passenger.
    Respondents: Certificated U.S. air carriers and foreign air 
carriers operating to and from the United States that conduct 
passenger-carrying service with large aircraft.
    Estimated Annual Burden on Respondents: 15 minutes to 1,000 hours a 
year for each respondent (time to record and categorize one complaint 
[15 minutes] multiplied by the number of complaints respondents receive 
[1 complaint a year to 4,000 annual complaints a year]. The number of 
complaints received by carriers varies greatly. In the year 2000, ACPD 
received complaints for 661 incidents from people with disabilities 
involving airline service difficulties. The10 carriers that received 
the most complaints accounted for 84% of the total complaints received 
by ACPD. Carriers are estimated to receive 50 complaints for each one 
ACPD receives.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 8,262 hours for all respondents 
(time to

[[Page 6897]]

record and categorize one complaint [15 minutes] multiplied by the 
total number of complaints for all respondents [33,050])
    Frequency: 1 to 4,000 complaints per year for each respondent (Some 
of the air carriers may receive only one complaint a year while some of 
the larger operators could receive 4,000 annual complaints based on our 
assumption that airlines receive 50 disability complaints for each 
disability complaint received by ACPD).
    (2) Requirement to submit a report to DOT summarizing the 
disability-related complaint data (key-punching web-based matrix 
report).
    Respondents: Certificated U.S. air carriers and foreign air 
carriers operating to and from the United States that conduct 
passenger-carrying service with large aircraft.
    Estimated Annual Burden on Respondents: 30 minutes a year for each 
respondent to type in the 156 items (matrix consists of 13 disabilities 
and 12 service problems).
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 148 to 185 hours for all respondents 
(annual burden [30 minutes] multiplied by the total number respondents 
[295 to 370])
    Frequency: 1 report to DOT per year for each respondent
    (3) Requirement to retain correspondence and record of action taken 
on all disability-related complaints for three years.
    Respondents: Foreign air carriers operating to and from the United 
States that conduct passenger carrying service with large aircraft.
    Estimated Annual Burden on Respondents: 1 hour a year for each 
respondent
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 231 to 306 hours for all respondents 
(annual burden [1 hour] multiplied by the total number respondents [231 
to 306])
    Frequency: 1 to 4,000 complaints per year for each respondent

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    The Department has determined that the requirements of Title II of 
the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 do not apply to this 
rulemaking.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 382

    Air carriers, Civil rights, Consumer protection, Individuals with 
disabilities, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Issued this 1st day of February, 2002, at Washington, DC.
Norman Y. Mineta,
Secretary of Transportation.
    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Department proposes 
to amend 14 CFR Part 382 as follows:

PART 382--NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF DISABILITY IN AIR 
TRAVEL

    1. The authority citation for 14 CFR part 382 is revised to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 41702, 41705, and 41712.
    2. A new Sec. 382.70 is proposed to be added to read as follows:


Sec. 382.70  Disability-related complaints received by carriers.

    (a) For the purposes of this section, a disability-related 
complaint means a specific expression of dissatisfaction received from, 
or submitted on behalf, of an individual with a disability concerning a 
difficulty associated with the person's disability, which the person 
experienced when using or attempting to use an air carrier's or foreign 
air carrier's services.
    (b) This section applies to certificated U.S. carriers and foreign 
air carriers operating to, from, and in the United States, conducting 
passenger operations with at least one aircraft having a designed 
seating capacity of more than 60 passengers. Foreign air carriers are 
covered by this section only with respect to disability-related 
complaints dealing with service to and from the United States.
    (c) Carriers shall categorize disability-related complaints that 
they receive according to the type of disability and nature of 
complaint. Data concerning a passenger's disability must be recorded 
separately in the following areas: vision impaired, hearing impaired, 
vision and hearing impaired, mentally impaired, communicable disease, 
allergies (e.g., food allergies, chemical sensitivity), paraplegic, 
quadriplegic, other wheelchair, oxygen, stretcher, other assistive 
device (cane, respirator, etc.), and other disability. Data concerning 
the alleged discrimination or service problem related to the disability 
must be separately recorded in the following areas: refusal to board, 
refusal to board without an attendant, security issues concerning 
disability, aircraft not accessible, airport not accessible, advance 
notice dispute, seating accommodation, failure to provide adequate or 
timely assistance, problem with storage/damage/delay of assistive 
device, service animal problem, unsatisfactory information, and other.
    (d) Carriers shall submit an annual report summarizing the 
disability-related complaints that they received during the prior 
calendar year using the form specified in Appendix A to this part. The 
first report shall cover complaints received during calendar year 2003 
and shall be submitted to the Department of Transportation by January 
26, 2004. Carriers shall submit all subsequent reports on the last 
Monday in January of that year for the prior calendar year. All 
submissions must be made through the World Wide Web except for 
situations where the carrier can demonstrate that it would suffer undue 
hardship if it were not permitted to submit the data via paper copies, 
disks, or e-mail, and DOT has approved an exception. All fields in the 
form must be completed; carriers are to enter ``0'' where there were no 
complaints in a given category. Each annual report must contain the 
following certification signed by an authorized representative of the 
carrier: ``I, the undersigned, do certify that this report has been 
prepared under my direction in accordance with the regulations in 14 
CFR part 382. I affirm that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, 
this is a true, correct, and complete report.'' Electronic signatures 
will be accepted.
    (e) Carriers shall retain correspondence and record of action taken 
on all disability-related complaints for three years after receipt of 
the complaint or creation of the record of action taken. Carriers must 
make these records available to Department of Transportation officials 
at their request.
    (f) Each carrier shall comply with paragraphs (c) through (e) of 
this section for covered complaints it receives from or on behalf of 
passengers as well as complaints forward by another carrier or 
governmental agency with respect to difficulties encountered in 
connection with service it provides. Each carrier shall also comply 
with paragraphs (c) through (e) of this section for covered complaints 
it receives from or on behalf of passengers with respect to 
difficulties encountered in connection with service provided by a code 
sharing partner.

[[Page 6898]]

    (g) Carriers that do not submit their data via the Web shall use 
the disability-related complaint data form specified in Appendix A when 
filing their annual report summarizing the disability-related 
complaints they received. The report shall be mailed, by the dates 
specified in paragraph (d) of this section, to the following address:

U.S. Department of Transportation, Aviation Consumer Protection 
Division, 400 7th Street, SW., Room 4107, C-75, Washington, DC 
20590.

    3. A new Appendix A is proposed to be added to part 382 to read as 
follows:

Appendix A to Part 382--Disability Complaint Reporting Form

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