[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 239 (Thursday, December 14, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 58778]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-26707]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

14 CFR Part 399

[Docket No. DOT-OST-2017-0007]
RIN 2105-AE56


Transparency of Airline Ancillary Service Fees

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

ACTION: Notice of withdrawal of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Department is withdrawing the supplemental notice of 
proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) on Transparency of Airline Ancillary 
Service Fees issued on January 9, 2017. The SNPRM proposed to require 
air carriers, foreign air carriers, and ticket agents to clearly 
disclose to consumers at all points of sale customer-specific fee 
information, or itinerary-specific information if a customer elects not 
to provide customer-specific information, for a first checked bag, a 
second checked bag, and one carry-on bag wherever fare and schedule 
information is provided to consumers. The withdrawal of this rulemaking 
corresponds with the Department's and Administration's priorities and 
is consistent with Executive Order 13771, Reducing Regulation and 
Controlling Regulatory Costs, January 30, 2017.

DATES: December 14, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments by sending an email to Kimberly Graber 
([email protected]) or Blane A. Workie ([email protected]). 
Please include RIN 2105-AE56 in the subject line of the message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kimberly Graber or Blane A. Workie, 
Office of the Assistant General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement and 
Proceedings, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. 
SE, Washington, DC 20590, 202-366-9342 (phone), [email protected] 
or [email protected] (email).
    Electronic Access: Docket: For access to the docket to read 
background documents and comments received, go to the street address 
listed above or visit http://www.regulations.gov. Enter the docket 
number DOT-OST-2017-0007 in the search field.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 9, 2017, the Department issued an 
SNPRM that proposed to require air carriers, foreign air carriers, and 
ticket agents to clearly disclose to consumers at all points of sale 
customer-specific fee information, or itinerary-specific information if 
a customer elects not to provide customer-specific information, for a 
first checked bag, a second checked bag, and one carry-on bag wherever 
fare and schedule information is provided to consumers (see 82 FR 7536, 
Jan. 19, 2017). The SNPRM further proposed to require airlines to 
provide useable, current, and accurate (but not transactable) baggage 
fee information to all ticket agents that receive and distribute the 
airline's fare and schedule information, including Global Distribution 
Systems and metasearch entities. If an airline or ticket agent has a 
website that markets to U.S. consumers, the SNPRM proposed to require 
the baggage fee information to be disclosed at the first point in a 
search process where a fare is listed in connection with a specific 
flight itinerary, adjacent to the fare. The SNPRM also proposed to 
permit airlines and ticket agents to allow customers to opt-out of 
receiving the baggage fee information when using their websites.
    On March 2, 2017, the Department suspended the comment period, 
which had been scheduled to close on March 20, 2017. The suspension of 
the comment period was to allow the President's appointees the 
opportunity to review and consider this action. After a careful review, 
the Department has determined to withdraw the SNPRM. The Department is 
committed to protecting consumers from hidden fees and to ensuring 
transparency. However, we do not believe that Departmental action is 
necessary to meet this objective at this time. The Department's 
existing regulations already provide consumers some information 
regarding fees for ancillary services. The withdrawal corresponds with 
the Department's and Administration's priorities and is consistent with 
the Executive Order 13771, Reducing Regulation and Controlling 
Regulatory Costs, January 30, 2017.

    Issued on 5th day of December 2017 in Washington, DC.
Elaine L. Chao,
Secretary of Transportation.
[FR Doc. 2017-26707 Filed 12-13-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P