[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 134 (Friday, July 11, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40008-40010]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-15783]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

[Docket Number: OST-95-179 and OST-95-623]


Notice of Request for Extension of a Previously Approved 
Collection

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public 
Law 104-13, this notice announces the Department of Transportation's 
(DOT) intention to request extension of a previously approved 
information collection.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received on or before September 
9, 2008.

ADDRESSES: You may submit a comment (identified by DOT Docket Numbers

[[Page 40009]]

OST-95-179 and OST-95-623) by any of the following methods:
     Web site: http://regulations.gov. Follow the instructions 
for submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building, Room W12-
140, Washington, DC 20590-001.
     Hand Delivery: Room W12-140 on the ground level of the 
West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Wednesday and Federal 
Holidays.
    Instructions: All comments must include the agency name and Docket 
Numbers OST-95-179 and OST-95-623. Note that all comments received will 
be posted without change to http://regulations.gov, including and 
personal information provided. You should know that anyone is able to 
search the electronic from of all comments received into any of our 
dockets by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or 
signing the comment, if submitted on behalf of an association, 
business, labor union, etc.).
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments, go to http://regulations.gov at any time or to Room W12-140 
on the ground level of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 a.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Wednesday and federal holidays.
    If you wish to receive confirmation of receipt of your written 
comments, please include a self-addressed, stamped postcard with the 
following statement: ``Comments on Docket OST-95-179 and OST-95-623''. 
The Docket Clerk will date stamp the postcard prior to returning it to 
you via the U.S. mail. Please note that due to delays in the delivery 
of U.S. mail to Federal offices in Washington, DC, we recommend that 
persons consider an alternative method (Internet, fax, or professional 
delivery service) to submit comments to the docket and ensure their 
timely receipt at U.S. DOT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aleta Best, Office of the Assistant 
Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs, Office of the 
Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, 
SE., Washington, DC, 20590, (202) 493-0797.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Disclosure of Codesharing.
    OMB Control Number: 2105-0537.
    Expiration Date: November 30, 2008.
    Type of Request: Extension of a previously approved collection.
    Abstract: Codesharing is the name given to a common airline 
industry marketing practice where, by mutual agreement between 
cooperating carriers, at least one of the airline designator codes used 
on a flight is different from that of the airline operating the 
aircraft. In one version, two or more airlines each use their own 
designator codes on the same aircraft operation. Although only one 
airline operates the flight, each airline in a codesharing arrangement 
may hold out, market, and sell the flight as its own in published 
schedules. Codesharing also refers to other arrangements, such as when 
a code on a passenger's ticket is not that of the operator of the 
flight, but where the operator does not also hold out the service in 
its own name. Such codesharing arrangements are common between commuter 
air carriers and their larger affiliates, and the number of 
arrangements between U.S. air carriers and foreign air carriers has 
also been increasing. Arrangements falling into this category are 
similar to leases of aircraft with crew (wet leases).
    The Department recognizes the strong preference of air travelers 
for on-line service (service by a single carrier) on connecting flights 
over interline service (service by multiple carriers). Codesharing 
arrangements are, in part, a marketing response to this demand for on-
line service. Often, codesharing partners offer services similar to 
those available for on-line connections with the goal of offering 
``seamless'' service (i.e., service where the transfers from flight to 
flight or airline to airline are facilitated). For example, they may 
locate gates near each other to make connections more convenient or 
coordinate baggage handling to give greater assurance that baggage will 
be properly handled.
    Codesharing arrangements can help airlines operate more efficiently 
because they can reduce costs by providing a joint service with one 
aircraft rather than operating separate services with two aircraft. 
Particularly in thin markets, this efficiency can lead to increased 
price and service options for consumers or enable the use of equipment 
sized appropriately for the market. Therefore, the Department 
recognizes that codesharing, as well as long-term wet leases, can offer 
significant economic benefits.
    Although codesharing and wet-lease arrangements can offer 
significant consumer benefits, they can also be misleading unless 
consumers know that the transportation they are considering for 
purchase will not be provided by the airline whose designator code is 
shown on the ticket, schedule, or itinerary and unless they know the 
identity of the airline on which they will be flying. The growth in the 
use of codesharing, wet-leasing, and similar marketing tools, 
particularly in international air transportation, had given the 
Department concern about whether the then-current disclosure rules (14 
CFR 399.88) protected the public interest adequately and led the 
Department to adopt specific regulations requiring the disclosure of 
code-sharing arrangements and long-term wet leases on March 15, 1999. 
(14 CFR part 257)
    These regulations required U.S. airlines, foreign airlines and 
travel agents doing business in the United States, to notify passengers 
of the existence of code-sharing or long-term wet lease arrangements. 
It also required U.S. airlines, foreign airlines and travel agents to 
tell prospective consumers, in all oral communications before booking 
transportation, that the transporting airline is not the airline whose 
designator code will appear on travel documents and identify the 
transporting airline by its corporate name and any other name under 
which that service is held out to the public.
    Respondents: All U.S. air carriers, foreign air carriers, computer 
reservations systems (CRSs), and travel agents doing business in the 
United States, and the traveling public.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: Annual reporting burden for this 
data collection is estimated at 653,183 hours for all travel agents and 
airline ticket agents and 653,183 hours for air travelers, based on 15 
seconds per phone call and an average of 1.5 phone calls per trip, for 
the approximately 33% of codeshare itineraries that involve personal 
contact. Most of this data collection (third party notification) is 
accomplished through highly automated computerized systems.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 16,000, excluding travelers.
    Estimated Time per Response: At 15 seconds per call and an average 
of 1.5 calls per trip, a total of 22.5 seconds per respondent or 
traveler, for the approximately 33% of codeshare itineraries that 
involve personal contact.
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether this collection of information 
(third party notification) is necessary for the proper performance of 
the agency, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of burden of the 
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to 
minimize the burden of the

[[Page 40010]]

collection of information on the respondents, including through the use 
of automated techniques or other forms of information technology.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for OMB approval. All comments will also become a matter of 
public record.

    Issued in Washington, DC.
Todd M. Homan,
Director, Office of Aviation Analysis.
[FR Doc. E8-15783 Filed 7-10-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P