[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 243 (Tuesday, December 20, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 77765-77766]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27416]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

14 CFR Part 399

[Docket No. DOT-OST-2022-0109]
RIN 2105-AF10


Enhancing Transparency of Airline Ancillary Service Fees

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

ACTION: Extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation (Department or DOT) is 
extending through January 23, 2023, the period for interested persons 
to submit comments to its proposed rule on Enhancing Transparency of 
Airline Ancillary Service Fees.

DATES: Comments should be filed by January 23, 2023. Late-filed 
comments will be considered to the extent practicable. Petitions for a 
hearing pursuant to 14 CFR 399.75(b)(1) must also be filed by January 
23, 2023.

ADDRESSES: You may file comments identified by the docket number DOT-
OST-2022-0109 by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: go to https://www.regulations.gov and follow

[[Page 77766]]

the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. 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 Ave. SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Commenters 
using this method of delivery should contact Docket Services at 202-
366-9826 or 202-366-9317 before delivery to ensure staff is available 
to receive the delivery.
     Fax: (202) 493-2251.
    Instructions: You must include the agency name and docket number 
DOT-OST-2022-0109 or the Regulatory Identification Number (RIN 2105-
AF10) for the rulemaking at the beginning of your comment. All comments 
received will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, 
including any personal information provided.
    Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all 
comments received in 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.). For information on 
DOT's compliance with the Privacy Act, please visit https://www.transportation.gov/privacy.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents and 
comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov or to the street 
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the 
docket.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ryan Patanaphan or Blane Workie, 
Office of Aviation Consumer Protection, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20590, 202-366-
9342 (phone), [email protected] or [email protected] (email).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 26, 2022, the Department of 
Transportation (Department) publicly announced and posted to its 
website a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that proposed several 
disclosure requirements to enhance the transparency of ancillary 
service fees that consumers pay for when they purchase airline tickets. 
(See 87 FR 63718; October 20, 2022). In the NPRM, the Department 
proposed to require U.S. air carriers, foreign air carriers, and ticket 
agents to clearly disclose passenger-specific or itinerary-specific 
baggage fees, change fees, and cancellation fees to consumers whenever 
fare and schedule information is provided to consumers for flights to, 
within, and from the United States. The Department also proposed 
requiring similar disclosures for fees for a child 13 or under to be 
seated adjacent to an accompanying adult, as well as the 
transactability of such seating fees. The proposed rule would require 
carriers to provide useable, current, and accurate information 
regarding fees to ticket agents that sell or display the carrier's fare 
and schedule information. The NPRM provided for a comment period of 60 
days after publication of the NPRM in the Federal Register, i.e., 
December 19, 2022.
    Since the publication of the NPRM, several commenters have 
requested that the Department extend the comment period given the 
complexity of the proposals. Airlines for America (A4A) and 
International Air Transportation Association (IATA) filed a joint 
request for the Department to extend the comment period by 60 days 
given the expansive scope and complexity of the NPRM. The Travel 
Technology Association, the American Society of Travel Advisors, and 
Global Business Travel Association also filed a joint request asking 
for a 60-day extension primarily because of the complexity of the 
issues and noted that developing fully responsive comments that the 
Department will find most useful will take more time. The National Air 
Carrier Association and Sabre Corporation also separately requested an 
additional 60 days. Further, on December 8, 2022, during a public 
meeting of the Aviation Consumer Protection Advisory Committee (ACPAC) 
to discuss this rulemaking, the consumer representative of the ACPAC 
stated that he does not oppose the requests for an extension. A4A and 
IATA have also asked for clarification on various issues in the NPRM. 
The Department's responses to the questions raised by airlines will be 
posted in the rulemaking docket at https://www.regulations.gov, docket 
DOT-OST-2022-0109.
    The Department has reviewed the requests for extension of the 
comment period and has determined to extend the comment period for the 
proposed rule from December 19, 2022, to January 23, 2023. The 
Department believes that granting a 35-day extension of the original 
comment period is sufficient to allow stakeholders to conduct a 
thorough and careful consideration of all potential impacts, including 
the Department's responses to the airlines' clarification requests, and 
prepare comments.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on or about this 13th day of December 
2022, under authority delegated at 49 U.S.C. 1.27(n).
John E. Putnam,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2022-27416 Filed 12-19-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P