[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 243 (Tuesday, December 19, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76017-76019]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-9772]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary


Requirements Regarding Flights to College Bowl Games and Other 
Special Events

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department is publishing the following notice providing 
guidance to colleges and other organizations wishing to arrange charter 
flights to football bowl games, NCAA basketball playoff games, or other 
special events.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dayton Lehman, Jr., Deputy Assistant 
General Counsel, or Lisa Swafford-Brooks, Senior Attorney, Office of 
Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings (C-70), 400 7th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-9342.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice of Department of Transportation 
Requirements Regarding Flights to

[[Page 76018]]

College Bowl Games and other Special Events.
    This notice is to provide guidance to colleges and other 
organizations wishing to arrange charter flights, including flights to 
football bowl games, NCAA basketball playoff games, or other special 
events. The notice is also intended to provide information regarding 
the economic licensing and operational certification of air carriers by 
the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). It is important that 
colleges and other entities are fully aware of this information since 
they often charter aircraft to travel to events and we wish to avoid 
instances of organizations (1) contracting with entities that hold no 
DOT economic authority; (2) unknowingly chartering aircraft from 
entities that are not subject to the most stringent safety standards 
and oversight of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a DOT 
operating administration; or (3) reselling seats on a charter flight 
without their first having obtained proper authority to do so.
    There are generally two primary avenues whereby a college or other 
entity may seek to sponsor air transportation to a college bowl game or 
other special event. The organization may choose to (1) contract 
directly with a carrier to provide the air transportation to the bowl 
game or other special event or (2) contract with a Public Charter 
Operator or an air charter broker, who would, in turn, locate a direct 
air carrier to provide the air transportation.

Contracting Directly With an Air Carrier

    If the college or other entity chooses to contract with the air 
carrier directly, they should be aware of the economic requirements 
that govern the carrier's operations. Before any U.S. aircraft operator 
can hold itself out to the public as providing interstate scheduled or 
charter service, it must have DOT economic authority. In general, such 
authority is granted to large aircraft operators in the form of an air 
carrier certificate issued under 49 U.S.C. 41101. Prior to granting 
such authority, this Department must find a carrier to be ``fit'', 
which entails a determination that the carrier has adequate financial 
resources, a competent management team and a proper compliance 
disposition. This fitness requirement is a continuing one and we 
monitor certificated carriers to ensure their compliance with the 
requirement. In addition, certificated carriers must meet certain DOT 
economic rules such as minimum liability insurance requirements (see, 
14 CFR part 205) and escrow requirements to protect charterers (see, 14 
CFR part 212).
    Likewise, the FAA requires that any U.S. aircraft operator 
providing scheduled or charter service with large aircraft must comply 
with the safety-related certification and operating rules of part 121 
of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR part 121). Those 
regulations are the most detailed and stringent of any of the FAA's 
aircraft operating rules and the FAA provides heightened safety 
surveillance of carriers subject to part 121.
    There are, however, operators of large, jet-powered passenger 
aircraft that are not required to have DOT economic authority or to 
comply with 14 CFR part 121. These operators are regulated under the 
safety standards of part 125 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 
CFR Part 125). While these aircraft operators may conduct ``private'' 
air services for a few entities for compensation or hire, they do not 
have authority to transport the general public by engaging in common 
carriage (e.g., holding out to the general public, or a segment of the 
general public such as colleges, through advertisements or telephone 
listings or through agents or brokers, or otherwise acquiring a 
reputation for common carriage). Since carriers operating under part 
125 are not authorized to hold out to the general public, part 125 does 
not contain safety standards as stringent as part 121. Likewise, 
carriers lawfully operating under part 125 hold no economic license 
from DOT and are not required to comply with DOT's insurance or 
monetary escrow requirements. You should therefore inquire about the 
specific authority under which the carrier you will be using will 
operate.
    In addition to determining whether the air carrier has appropriate 
authority, any organization that contracts with an air carrier directly 
and wishes to resell seats on the charter flight to the public (for 
example, to its students or alumni, to the press, or to its club 
members), whether or not as a profit-making venture, should understand 
its own role as an ``indirect air carrier,'' whose reselling of the air 
transportation must be licensed under the Department's Public Charter 
regulations.
    Public Charter operators must comply with the requirements of 14 
CFR Part 380. Among the most important requirements of 14 CFR Part 380 
are the rules designed to prevent economic harm to charter passengers, 
including the requirements that (1) before any sales of seats takes 
place there is in place an approved Public Charter prospectus based 
upon a contract between the charter operator and a direct air carrier 
covering the transportation to be sold and (2) all payments by charter 
participants to charter operators be covered in full by a security 
agreement or in part by a security agreement with the payments 
themselves being placed directly into an escrow account. There are 
other specific rules governing Public Charter solicitation and the 
content of the charter contract between the Public Charter operator and 
the charter participants, including provisions on the cancellation of 
trips and a participant's right to a refund.

Exemptions From the Public Charter Requirements

    We recognize that organizations may have only a short time after 
learning of an event in which to organize participation in a charter 
flight, such as might occur with a bowl game or NCAA basketball playoff 
appearance. The Department has always been willing to work with 
organizations that can show that an exemption from certain of its rules 
is in the public interest. While such matters are reviewed on a case-
by-case basis, in seeking such relief, an organization should be 
prepared to show, at a minimum, that it has a contract with a carrier 
holding appropriate authority for the flight and that appropriate 
financial arrangements are in place to protect consumer payments.

Using a Public Charter Operator or an Air Charter Broker

    Organizations may contract with a Public Charter operator to 
organize a charter flight. Any organization that does so should assure 
itself that the Public Charter operator has complied with the 
requirements of part 380, as described above (and part 381, where 
applicable, as described below). Organizations may also contract 
directly with an air carrier through an ``air charter broker.'' An air 
charter broker cannot misrepresent itself as an air carrier and, 
because it does not hold authority from the Department, it cannot in 
its own right contract to sell air transportation. Therefore, it must 
generally have authority to act either (1) as the agent of a chartering 
organization in contracting with an air carrier or (2) as the agent of 
the air carrier in contracting with a chartering organization. Air 
charter brokers also may act merely as a ``go-between'' without being 
involved in the actual contract between the carrier and the charter 
customer, e.g., by locating a customer for an air carrier and being 
paid a finder's fee by the carrier, but this is a rare occurrence.

[[Page 76019]]

    Organizations using air charter brokers should be aware that, since 
the Department does not license air charter brokers, there is no DOT-
required financial security in place to protect an organization's 
payments to a broker that is the lawful agent of the organization or 
who acts in a ``go-between'' function. With respect to air charter 
brokers that state that they are acting as the agent of one or more air 
carriers, prior to signing a contract for air services organizations 
should take steps to assure themselves of the agency relationship and 
that the carrier represented is properly licensed by DOT and FAA to 
provide the air transportation.\1\
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    \1\ On October 8, 2004, this office issued a notice regarding 
the lawful role of air charter brokers in the provision of air 
transportation and our enforcement policy covering such operations. 
The notice, which was published in the Federal Register, provides 
information on a variety of topics involving air charter brokers, 
including contracting procedures and marketing. 69 FR 61429, Oct. 
18, 2004; erratum published 69 FR 62321, Oct. 25, 2004. The notice 
may be found on the office's website at: http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/rules/BrokerNoticeFinal.pdf.
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Tickets to a Game or Other Special Event Sold in Conjunction With a 
Flight

    It is also important to note that specific rules apply to 
situations where tickets to a game or other special event are being 
offered in conjunction with a flight, whether it is a charter flight or 
a regularly scheduled flight. Under 14 CFR Part 381, an entity that 
offers special event or game tickets in connection with a flight must 
be in physical possession of a sufficient number of tickets or have a 
written contract for the tickets, which must be directly traceable to 
the actual sponsor of the game or other special event. Failure to meet 
Part 381's requirements can entitle a participant to a full refund, 
including the price of the air fare.
    We seek the chartering public's cooperation and assistance to 
ensure that they arrange an enjoyable and secure traveling experience. 
If you have any questions or desire additional information, please 
contact Dayton Lehman, Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Aviation 
Enforcement and Proceedings, or Lisa Swafford-Brooks, Senior Attorney 
in that office, at (202) 366-9342. If you wish to ascertain whether a 
particular aircraft operator has DOT air carrier economic authority, 
you may contact Bill Bertram, Chief of the Air Carrier Fitness Division 
at (202) 366-1062.
    An unofficial electronic version of this document is available on 
the World Wide Web at http://dms.dot.gov/reports and at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/rules/guidance.htm

    Dated: December 13, 2006.
Samuel Podberesky,
Assistant General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings.
[FR Doc. 06-9772 Filed 12-14-06; 4:01 pm]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P