[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 63 (Tuesday, April 4, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16470-16471]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-06599]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Bureau of Transportation Statistics

[Docket ID Number DOT-OST-2014-0031]


Agency Information Collection; Activity Under OMB Review; Report 
of Passengers Denied Confirmed Space--BTS Form 251

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology 
(OST-R), 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 invites the general 
public, industry and other governmental parties to comment on the 
continuing need for and usefulness of BTS collecting reports on the 
number of passengers holding confirmed reservations that voluntarily or 
involuntarily give up their seats when the airline oversells the 
flight. Comments are requested concerning whether (a) the collection is 
still needed by the Department of Transportation, (b) BTS accurately 
estimated the reporting burden; (c) there are other ways to enhance the 
quality, utility and clarity of the information collected; and (d) 
there are ways to minimize reporting burden, including the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted by June 5, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cecelia Robinson, Office of Airline 
Information, RTS-42, Room E34-410, OST-R, BTS, 1200 New Jersey Avenue 
SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001, Telephone Number (202) 366-4405, Fax 
Number (202) 366-3383 or EMAIL [email protected].

COMMENTS:  Comments should identify the associated OMB approval # 2138-
0018 and Docket ID Number DOT-OST-2014-0031. Persons 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 # 2138-0018, Docket--DOT-OST-2014-
0031. The postcard will be date/time stamped and returned.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT Docket ID Number 
DOT-OST-2014-0031 by any of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
    Mail: Docket Services: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Fax: 202-366-3383.
    Instructions: Identify docket number, DOT-OST-2014-0031, at the 
beginning of your comments, and send two copies. To receive 
confirmation that DOT received your comments, include a self-addressed 
stamped postcard. Internet users may access all comments received by 
DOT at http://www.regulations.gov. All comments are posted 
electronically without charge or edits, including any personal 
information provided.
    Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form 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.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78) or you may visit http://DocketInfo.dot.gov.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov. or the street 
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the 
dockets.

Electronic Access

    You may access comments received for this notice at http://www.regulations.gov, by searching docket DOT-OST-2014-0031.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    OMB Approval No. 2138-0018.
    Title: Report of Passengers Denied Confirmed Space.
    Form No. BTS Form 251.
    Type of Review: Extension of approved collection.
    Respondents: Large certificated air carriers.
    Number of Respondents: 18.
    Number of Responses: 72.
    Number of Hours per Response: 10.
    Total Annual Burden: 720 hours.
    Needs and Uses: BTS Form 251 is a one-page report submitted four 
times per year, on the number of passengers denied seats either 
voluntarily or involuntarily, whether these bumped passengers were 
provided alternate transportation and/or compensation, and the amount 
of the payment. On

[[Page 16471]]

November 3, 2016 the Department published a Final Rule (see 81 FR 
76800) that changed the number of U.S. air carriers that account for at 
least 1 percent to .5 percent of domestic scheduled-service passenger 
revenues who must report oversales on all operations with 30 seats or 
larger aircraft that depart a U.S. airport.
    Carriers do not report data from inbound international flights to 
the United States because the protections of 14 CFR part 250 Oversales 
do not apply to these flights. The report allows the Department to 
monitor the effectiveness of its oversales rule and take enforcement 
action when necessary. The involuntarily denied-boarding rate has 
decreased from 4.38 per 10,000 passengers in 1980 to 0.72 for the 
quarter ended December 2015. Without Form 251, determining the 
effectiveness of the Department's oversales rule would be impossible. 
The publishing of the carriers' individual denied boarding rates has 
diminished the need for more intrusive regulation. The rate of denied 
boarding can be examined as a continuing fitness factor. This rate 
provides an insight into a carrier's customer service practices. A 
rapid sustained increase in the rate of denied boarding may indicate 
operational difficulties. Because the rate of denied boarding is 
released quarterly, travelers and travel agents can select carriers 
with lower incidences of bumping passengers. This information is 
available in the Air Travel Consumer Report at: http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/reports/index.htm. The Air Travel Consumer 
Report is also sent to newspapers, magazines, and trade journals. The 
public availability of this information deters carriers from setting 
unreasonable overbooking rates--a market-based mechanism that is more 
efficient than direct regulation of those rates.
    The Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency 
Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note) requires a statistical agency to 
clearly identify information it collects for non-statistical purposes. 
BTS hereby notifies the respondents and the public that BTS uses the 
information it collects under this OMB approval for non-statistical 
purposes including, but not limited to, publication of both 
Respondent's identity and its data, submission of the information to 
agencies outside BTS for review, analysis, and possible use in 
regulatory and other administrative matters.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on March 28, 2017.
William A. Chadwick, Jr.,
Director, Office of Airline Information, Bureau of Transportation 
Statistics, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and 
Technology.
[FR Doc. 2017-06599 Filed 4-3-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P