[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 208 (Friday, October 26, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 53991-53992]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-23475]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
14 CFR Chapter II
Airline Reporting of Data on Mishandled Baggage, Wheelchairs, and
Scooters
AGENCY: Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings, Office of the
Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation (Department).
ACTION: Notification of enforcement.
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SUMMARY: This document addresses the obligations of large U.S. airlines
to report to the Department mishandled baggage, wheelchairs, and
scooters data following the enactment of the FAA Reauthorization Act of
2018.
DATES: This enforcement notification is applicable on October 26, 2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Wood, Senior Attorney, Office of
Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings (C-70), U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, 202-
366-9342 (telephone), [email protected] (email).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 2, 2016, the Department
published a final rule in the Federal Register titled ``Reporting of
Data for Mishandled Baggage and Wheelchairs and Scooters Transported in
Aircraft Cargo Compartments.'' 81 FR 76300. This November 2 final rule
changed the methodology that airlines are required to use in reporting
to the Department their mishandled baggage data, from the number of
mishandled baggage reports (MBRs) filed with the airline and the number
of domestic passenger enplanements to the number of mishandled bags and
the number of enplaned bags.\1\ The rule also requires airlines to
report separate statistics for mishandled wheelchairs and scooters. On
November 3, 2016, the Department published another final rule titled
``Enhancing Airline Passenger Protections III,'' 81 FR 76826, that,
among other things, lowered the reporting carrier threshold for
mishandled baggage from at least 1 percent of domestic scheduled
passenger revenues to at least 0.5 percent. The November 3 final rule
further requires reporting carriers that market domestic scheduled
codeshare flights to file separate mishandled baggage data for
codeshare flights that carry only one U.S. carrier's code. In March
2017, the Department provided that carriers would be required to comply
with the changes to mishandled baggage reporting requirements made by
these two final rules with respect to air transportation occurring on
or after January 1, 2019. See 82 FR 14437 (March 21, 2017); 82 FR 14604
(March 22, 2017).
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\1\ Currently, airlines report the number of MBRs filed by
passengers with the airline. One MBR might cover more than one bag
because a single MBR could be submitted by a family--or even an
individual--with multiple mishandled bags. Under the new
methodology, airlines report the number of bags that were mishandled
as opposed to the number of MBRs filed by passengers. Also, today,
airlines report the number of passenger enplanements. Under the new
methodology, U.S. airlines will report the number of checked bags
enplaned (including bags checked at the gate and ``valet'' bags)
rather than the number of passenger enplanements.
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On October 5, 2018, the President signed the FAA Reauthorization
Act of 2018 (FAA Act) into law. See Public Law 115-254. Section 441 of
the FAA Act states that ``[t]he compliance date of the final rule,
dated November 2, 2016, on the reporting of data for mishandled baggage
and wheelchairs in aircraft cargo compartments (81 FR 76300) shall be
effective not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this
Act.'' \2\
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\2\ The FAA Act also includes another section related to
mishandled baggage reporting. Section 410 of the FAA Act states that
``[n]ot later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Secretary of Transportation shall study and publicize for
comment a cost-benefit analysis to air carriers and consumers of
changing the baggage reporting requirements of section 234.6 of
title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, before implementation of such
requirements . . .'' The Department must also report to Congress on
the findings of the cost-benefit analysis. The Department does not
view sections 441 and 410 as inconsistent with each other, because
it interprets section 410 as applying only to prospective changes,
and as not applying to the changes made by the final rules issued
November 2, 2016 and November 3, 2016. In June 2018, the Department
announced its initiation of a rulemaking, Reporting of Data for
Mishandled Baggage and Wheelchairs and Scooters Transportation in
Aircraft Cargo Compartments II (RIN #2105-AE77), ``to address
substantial challenges in accurately reporting, under the mishandled
baggage reporting final rules published in November 2016, data for
bags handled by multiple airlines and bags that traveled on both
reportable domestic segments and nonreportable international
segments.'' See https://www.transportation.gov/regulations/report-on-significant-rulemakings. The Department will conduct a cost-
benefit analysis for proposed changes to the baggage reporting
requirements of 14 CFR 234.6 and report to Congress as required by
section 410 of the FAA Act.
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By this notification, the Office of Aviation Enforcement and
Proceedings (Enforcement Office) is providing guidance to affected U.S.
carriers on compliance with mishandled baggage, wheelchair, and scooter
reporting requirements following the enactment of the FAA Act. Section
441 of the FAA Act provides that the compliance date for the November
2, 2016 final rule shall be effective not later than 60 days after
[[Page 53992]]
enactment of the Act, which is December 4, 2018. Accordingly, airlines
determined by the Department's Office of Airline Information (OAI) as
accounting for at least 1 percent of domestic scheduled passenger
revenues for calendar year 2018 \3\ must submit mishandled baggage data
to the Department using the new mishandled baggage methodology and must
separately report statistics for mishandled wheelchairs and scooters
for domestic scheduled flights they operate beginning December 4, 2018
and through December 31, 2018. See 81 FR 73000 (November 2, 2016). The
airlines must submit this data to the Department no later than January
15, 2019.\4\ The data would consist of: (1) Operating carrier code; (2)
month and year of data; (3) number of mishandled bags; (4) number of
bags enplaned; (5) number of mishandled wheelchairs and scooters; (6)
number of wheelchairs and scooters enplaned; (7) certification that to
the best of the signing official's knowledge and belief the data is
true, correct, and complete; and (8) date of submission, name of
airline representative, and signature.
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\3\ For calendar year 2018, 12 airlines reached the reporting
threshold of 906,261,000 in domestic scheduled passenger revenue
(one percent of total domestic scheduled passenger revenue) and are
required to report mishandled baggage data. These airlines are:
Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Envoy Air,
ExpressJet Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue
Airways, SkyWest Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines and
United Airlines.
\4\ As section 441 only changes the compliance date of the
November 2 final rule, airlines are not required to submit data for
any code-share operations, which is a requirement of the November 3,
2016, final rule.
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If a reporting carrier is unable to report accurate data on the
total number of mishandled bags and enplaned bags for the entire
reportable period beginning December 4, 2018, and ending December 31,
2018, the Enforcement Office will exercise its enforcement discretion
as appropriate.\5\ An airline should inform the Enforcement Office no
later than January 3, 2019, if the airline is unable to provide
accurate mishandled baggage data using the methodology set forth in the
November 2, 2016 rule for the December 2018 reportable period. To the
extent the Enforcement Office decides not to pursue action against an
airline that does not report the required data because of reliability
concerns, in the interest of providing air travel consumers with access
to reliable mishandled baggage data, the Enforcement Office expects
that the airline will accurately report mishandled baggage data to the
Department using the prior mishandled bag reporting methodology (i.e.,
the total number of passengers enplaned and the total number of MBRs
filed with the airline in the manner described in 14 CFR 234.6(a) and
OAI Technical Reporting Directive #29A, for the flights it operates
December 1 through 31, 2018). Even if an airline indicates an inability
to report accurately the total number of mishandled bags and enplaned
bags, the Enforcement Office will expect the airline to accurately
report the total number of mishandled wheelchairs and scooters and
total number of wheelchair and scooters enplaned. Because the
Enforcement Office expects that airlines should be able to accurately
report mishandled wheelchair and scooter data, the Enforcement Office
requests a detailed explanation no later than January 3, 2019, from any
airline asserting that it is not able to accurately report wheelchair
and scooter data to the Department for flights beginning December 4,
2018.
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\5\ During the past year, the Enforcement Office has been
working with the reporting carriers to ensure that they are able to
report new mishandled baggage data for flights on or after January
1, 2019. This notification is not intended to suggest an airline's
delay in submitting the new mishandled baggage data for flights
occurring on or after January 1, 2019, would lead the Enforcement
Office to exercise its enforcement discretion.
Issued in Washington, DC, on October 22, 2018.
Blane A. Workie,
Assistant General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings.
[FR Doc. 2018-23475 Filed 10-25-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P