[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 170 (Tuesday, September 5, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60742-60743]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18998]


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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 250

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, the 
Bureau of Transportation Statistics invites the general public, 
industry and other governmental parties to comment on the continuing 
need for and usefulness of DOT collecting reports on the number of 
passengers holding confirmed reservations that voluntarily or 
involuntarily give up their seats when the airline oversells the 
flight.

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 https://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 https://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 https://DocketInfo.dot.gov.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to https://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 https://www.regulations.gov, by searching docket DOT-OST-2014-0031.
    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.

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].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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.
    OMB Approval No. 2138-0018.
    Title: Report of Passengers Denied Confirmed Space.
    Form No.: BTS Form 250.
    Type Of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Large certificated air carriers.
    Number of Respondents: 15.
    Number of Responses: 60.
    Number of Hours per Response: 10.
    Total Annual Burden: 600 hours.

Codeshare Flights Marketed by Reporting Carrier

Form 250 for Codeshare Flights They Market

    Number of Respondents: 4.
    Number of Responses: 16.
    Number of Hours per Response: 6.
    Total Annual Burden: 96.
    Needs and Uses: BTS Form 250 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 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 half of one 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; this rate has been 
reduced to 0.24 per 10,000 passengers in 2019. Without Form 250, 
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

[[Page 60743]]

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 August 28, 2023.
William A. Chadwick, Jr.,
Director, Office of Airline Information, Bureau of Transportation 
Statistics, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and 
Technology.
[FR Doc. 2023-18998 Filed 9-1-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-62-P