[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 93 (Wednesday, May 14, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 25844-25845]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-12072]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
 
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 

  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 93 / Wednesday, May 14, 2003 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 25844]]



DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

14 CFR Parts 255 and 399

[Docket Nos. OST-97-2881, OST-97-3014, OST-98-4775, and OST-99-5888]
RIN 2105-AC65


Computer Reservations System (CRS) Regulations; Statements of 
General Policy

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice of public hearing.

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SUMMARY: On Thursday, May 22, 2003, at 9:30 a.m., the Department will 
conduct a public hearing on its pending rulemaking on computer 
reservations systems (CRSs). The public hearing will be held at the 
Marriott at Metro Center, 775 12th Street, NW., Washington, DC.

DATES: The hearing will be held on Thursday, May 22, 2003 at 9:30 a.m. 
Notices from those who wish to participate in the hearing must be 
submitted as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held at the Mariott at Metro Center, 
775, 12th St. NW., Washington, DC. Notices of intent to participate 
must be marked with the docket number, OST-97-2881, and should be 
submitted by only one of the following means:
    (1) By hand delivery to room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the 
Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The 
telephone number is 202-366-9329.
    (2) Electronically through the Web site for the Docket Management 
System at http://dms.dot.gov.
    (3) By mail to the Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 
20590-0001.

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 is conducting a rulemaking to 
determine whether its rules governing CRS operations, 14 CFR Part 255, 
remain necessary and, if so, whether the current rules are effective. 
We issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that set forth our tentative 
proposals regarding the existing rules and our tentative belief that we 
should not extend the rules to cover the sale of airline tickets 
through the Internet. 67 FR 69366 (November 15, 2002). We have given 
all interested persons the opportunity to file comments and reply 
comments and established a lengthy comment period totaling more than 
six months. However, we have decided that a public hearing where 
interested persons may express their views on the major issues would 
also be useful. We are therefore holding such a hearing on May 22. We 
have chosen to hold the hearing before the end of the comment period, 
which we have extended to June 9, so that interested persons can 
address points raised at the hearing in their reply comments. 98 FR 
24896 (May 9, 2003). In addition, holding the hearing before the end of 
the comment period will enable us to invite both participants in the 
hearing and other commenters to discuss specific points in their reply 
comments.
    The presiding official will be Michael Reynolds, the Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs. 
Participants will have the opportunity to present a statement of their 
views on the issues. Our presiding officer may ask questions on 
factual, policy, and legal issues. If a participant appearing on behalf 
of a firm or organization is not familiar with all of the issues, that 
person can bring someone who can answer questions. The hearing will not 
serve as a forum where speakers may cross-examine other commenters or 
Department officials and staff members. We have previously explained 
why a hearing with cross-examination would be neither particularly 
useful nor consistent with our intent to complete this rulemaking as 
promptly as possible. 68 FR 12883, 12884 (March 18, 2003).
    Persons who wish to speak at the hearing should submit requests to 
us as soon as possible in Docket OST-97-2881, the principal docket for 
this proceeding. To help us organize the hearing, each notice should 
state generally which issues the person plans to address. Each person 
should also provide an E-mail address or phone number so that if 
necessary we may provide additional information on procedures during 
the last few days before the hearing.
    In view of our decision to limit the hearing to one day and the 
likelihood that a number of persons will wish to speak, we are limiting 
the time for each speaker and the number of persons who may speak. We 
currently plan to allow people to speak on a first-come, first-served 
basis, based on the time of our receipt of their submission of their 
notice of their wish to participate. Only one person from each 
individual firm, trade association, or other group will be allowed to 
speak, except as necessary to answer questions from the presiding 
official. To ensure a balance of views and interests, we may choose to 
include some persons with divergent views in addition to the first 
requesters. Persons who are unable to speak at the hearing may, of 
course, present their views on the issues (and on statements made at 
the hearing) in their reply comments.
    After we obtain the notices from persons wishing to participate, we 
will provide more detailed information on the procedures for the 
hearing and the time available for each speaker.
    The hearing will be most beneficial to us if participants focus on 
the following specific issues:
    Whether rules governing system operations are still necessary, and, 
if so, whether they should cover all systems, only systems owned or 
marketed by airlines, or both systems and Internet distribution 
channels that may be comparable to the systems.
    Whether the mandatory participation rule and the rule prohibiting 
discriminatory booking fees (sections 255.6(a) and 255.7 of the current 
rules) should be eliminated or modified.
    Whether the rules should restrict which marketing and booking data 
generated by the systems can be obtained by airlines.
    Whether and how rules should restrict the systems' travel agency 
contract practices.
    Each participant at the hearing, however, may choose which issues 
to discuss and may address other issues if he or she wishes.

[[Page 25845]]

    Seating is restricted to about 150 people. If more people appear 
than can be accommodated, the first ones to arrive will be seated. We 
plan to prepare a record of the hearing and place it in the docket for 
this rulemaking, so that anyone who is unable to attend the hearing can 
learn what was said.
    Any person who wishes to have a sign language interpreter present 
at the hearing should so advise us by Monday, May 19, so that we may 
make the necessary arrangements.
    Finally, Sabre on its own initiative has filed a document stating 
its views on when a hearing should be held and how it should be 
organized. Other commenters have filed responses supporting or opposing 
Sabre's proposals. We have reviewed these documents and determined that 
the hearing procedures and timing set forth in this notice will best 
suit our purpose of supplementing the record without delaying a final 
decision. The opportunity to submit comments and reply comments will 
give all interested persons the ability to set forth in detail their 
positions on the factual, legal, and policy issues presented in this 
proceeding. As some of the commenters requested, however, we have 
extended the reply comment period to June 9. That will give interested 
persons additional time for their preparation of reply comments and 
their participation in the hearing.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on May 9, 2003.
Read C. Van de Water,
Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 03-12072 Filed 5-12-03; 2:32 pm]
BILLING CODE 4910-62-P