Proposed Rule2023-01517
Enhancing Transparency of Airline Ancillary Service Fees
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
January 26, 2023
Issuing agencies
Transportation Department
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Transportation (Department or DOT) declines to extend the comment period beyond January 23, 2023 for its proposed rule on Enhancing Transparency of Airline Ancillary Service Fees.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 17 (Thursday, January 26, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 17 (Thursday, January 26, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 4922-4923]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-01517]
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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: Denial of Request for Extension of Comment Period.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation (Department or DOT)
declines to extend the comment period beyond January 23, 2023 for its
proposed rule on Enhancing Transparency of Airline Ancillary Service
Fees.
DATES: Comments on the rulemaking 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:
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
<bullet> 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.
<bullet> 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.
<bullet> 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 <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>,
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
[[Page 4923]]
submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.).
For information on DOT's compliance with the Privacy Act, please visit
<a href="https://www.transportation.gov/privacy">https://www.transportation.gov/privacy</a>.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents and
comments received, go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> 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), <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7a08031b14540a1b0e1b141b0a121b143a1e150e541d150c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d8aaa1b9b6f6a8b9acb9b6b9a8b0b9b698bcb7acf6bfb7ae">[email protected]</span></a> or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6e0c020f000b4019011c05070b2e0a011a40090118"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a5c7c9c4cbc08bd2cad7ceccc0e5c1cad18bc2cad3">[email protected]</span></a> (email).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 26, 2022, the Department of
Transportation (DOT or 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 initially provided for a comment period of 60 days after
publication of the NPRM in the Federal Register, i.e., December 19,
2022. During this time, the Aviation Consumer Protection Advisory
Committee (ACPAC) met on December 8, 2022 and heard from Department
staff and various stakeholders on the proposed rule. The ACPAC meeting
was open to the public. The Department received requests for an
extension of the comment period from several commenters.\1\ In response
to those requests, and to provide additional time for stakeholders to
conduct a thorough review of the NPRM's potential impacts, the
Department extended the comment period by 35 days to January 23, 2023.
(See 87 FR 77765 (Dec. 20, 2022). During the extended comment period,
the ACPAC met again on January 12, 2023 to deliberate and vote on
recommendations in connection with the NPRM's proposals. The ACPAC
meeting was again open to the public.
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\1\ Commenters requesting additional time for comment were
Airlines for America, the International Air Transportation
Association, the Travel Technology Association, the American Society
of Travel Advisors, and the Global Business Travel Association.
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On January 18, 2023, the Travel Technology Association (Travel
Tech) requested an extension to file comments on the NPRM, writing that
commenters would not have a sufficient opportunity to review and
respond to the ACPAC's recommendations that resulted from its January
12 meeting.\2\ Travel Tech asserts that it and others were not able to
view the meeting when it occurred, and that, at the time the
organization requested an extension, the meeting materials had not yet
been posted to the public docket. Travel Tech requested a two-week
extension to February 6, 2023, to file comments.
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\2\ <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOT-OST-2022-0109-0068">https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOT-OST-2022-0109-0068</a>.
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While materials from the ACPAC's January 12 meeting, including a
video recording of the full meeting, have been posted publicly and can
be viewed on the Department's website or on <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a> (Docket
DOT-OST-2018-0190), the meeting was publicly viewable on the date it
was held. Stakeholders were provided sufficient notice of the meeting
in advance, and the Federal Register notice announcing the meeting
noted that the ACPAC intended to deliberate and decide on
recommendations, if any, regarding ancillary fee transparency.\3\
Indeed, Travel Tech was aware that the ACPAC would meet on January 12
to deliberate and decide on recommendations, if any, regarding this
rulemaking. Moreover, the Department believes members of the public
have had sufficient time, nearly 4 months, to consider the proposed
rule and to file comments. In light of the foregoing, the Department
finds insufficient basis to extend further the comment period for the
Enhancing Transparency of Airline Ancillary Service Fees NPRM. As such,
the Department denies Travel Tech's request for an extension to file
comments in this rulemaking. The Department's denial notwithstanding,
commenters are reminded that late-filed comments will be considered to
the extent practicable.
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\3\ A meeting notice was published in late December 2022 both on
the Department's website and at <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a>. See <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/latest-news">https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/latest-news</a> and <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document/DOT-OST-2018-0190-0087">https://www.regulations.gov/document/DOT-OST-2018-0190-0087</a>.
Signed in Washington, DC, on or around this 20th day of January
2023, under authority delegated at 49 U.S.C. 1.27n.
John E. Putnam,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2023-01517 Filed 1-25-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
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