Proposed Rule2024-22632
Family Seating in Air Transportation
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
October 3, 2024
Effective
August 9, 2024
Issuing agencies
Transportation Department
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Transportation (Department or DOT) is extending the comment end date for interested persons to submit comments to its proposed rule on Family Seating in Air Transportation from October 8, 2024, to November 7, 2024.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 192 (Thursday, October 3, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 192 (Thursday, October 3, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 80435-80436]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22632]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
14 CFR Parts 259 and 261
[Docket No. DOT-OST-2024-0091]
RIN No. 2105-AF15
Family Seating in Air Transportation
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary (OST), Department of Transportation
(DOT or the Department).
ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation (Department or DOT) is
extending the comment end date for interested persons to submit
comments to its proposed rule on Family Seating in Air Transportation
from October 8, 2024, to November 7, 2024.
DATES: The comment period for the proposed rule published August 9,
2024, at 89 FR 65272 is extended. Comments should be filed by November
7, 2024.
ADDRESSES: You may file comments identified by the docket number DOT-
OST-2024-0091 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.
<bullet> Fax: (202) 493-2251.
Instructions: You must include the agency name and docket number
DOT-OST-2024-0091 or the Regulatory Identification Number (RIN 2105-
AF15) 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 can 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.). 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 <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: Maegan Johnson, Nicole Smith, or Blane
A. 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#236e424644424d0d494c4b4d504c4d63474c570d444c55"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6924080c0e080747030601071a0607290d061d470e061f">[email protected]</span></a>, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5a34333935363f742937332e321a3e352e743d352c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2a44434945464f045947435e426a4e455e044d455c">[email protected]</span></a>, or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6c0e000d0209421b031e0705092c080318420b031a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f0929c919e95de879f829b9995b0949f84de979f86">[email protected]</span></a> (email).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 9, 2024, the Department published
in the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that
proposes to require airlines to seat children aged 13 and under
adjacent to at least one accompanying adult at no additional cost
beyond the fare, subject to limited exceptions. Under the NPRM, the
specific requirements that airlines would be required to follow to
ensure a young child is seated adjacent to an accompanying adult at no
additional cost differ depending on the carrier's seating method. There
are different requirements for an open seating carrier and an assigned
seating carrier. However, in both cases, airline that fail to provide
family seating as proposed would be required to mitigate the harm to
passengers by offering them a choice of rebooking at no additional cost
on the next available flight with family seating, transport of the
young child or young children and an accompanying adult on the flight
without adjacent seats, or a prompt refund of the fare paid for the
child and other persons on the same reservation. In addition, the
proposal explains that the Department considers family seating to be a
basic service that must be included in the advertised fare and seeks
comment on what services beyond adjacent family seating should be
considered a basic service. The NPRM provided for a comment period of
60 days after publication of the NPRM in the Federal Register, i.e.,
October 8, 2024.
[[Page 80436]]
On August 29, 2024, Airlines for America, the International Air
Transport Association, the National Air Carrier Association, and the
Regional Airline Association (collectively, ``Members'') filed a joint
request to extend the public comment period on the family seating NPRM
for an additional 60 days. The Members state that additional time is
needed to collect data and submit comprehensive comments to help the
Department make an informed decision on a final rule. Specifically, the
Members assert that the Department has not sufficiently considered the
impact of its proposal on foreign airlines which means that the airline
industry must collect, analyze, and submit information regarding this
impact. According to the Members, this is a significant task that will
take time to complete. Furthermore, the Members state that airlines
need additional time to fully consider and analyze the proposed
procedures for mitigating harm to passengers who are not provided
adjacent family seating, including time to determine the proposals
impact on their operations and propose potential alternatives that meet
the Department's goals but are less disruptive to airlines. The Members
also note that the expert report that the Regulatory Impact Analysis
(RIA) relied on was placed in the docket two weeks after the NPRM was
published which reduced the time available to review this important
report and negatively impacted their ability to assess the Department's
proposal and its potential impacts and submit well informed comments.
Finally, the members point to the Department's request for comments
regarding fees charged by airlines for ``basic services'' as a broad
request for which additional time is needed to respond.
On September 3, 2024, Southwest Airlines (Southwest) also filed a
request to extend the public comment period on the family seating NPRM
for an additional 60 days. In addition to expressing support for the
Member's request to extend the comment period, Southwest states in its
request that the comment period for the NPRM should be extended because
the airline is currently transitioning from an open seating model to a
carrier that assigns seat and unlike other carriers must evaluate and
comment on both the assigned seating carrier and open seating carrier
provisions in the NPRM.
On September 11, 2024, the American Economic Liberties Project, the
Consumer Action, the Consumer Federation of America, the National
Consumers League, and the U.S. PIRG (collectively ``consumer advocacy
groups'') filed an opposition to the Members' request for an extension
to the public comment period for the family seating NPRM. The consumer
advocacy groups urge the Department to stay on its current rulemaking
trajectory and argue that an extension is unnecessary since the
Department has provided ample time for relevant stakeholders to respond
to a proposed rule that has been years in the making, especially since
the proposals in the NPRM are modeled after draft legislation that the
Department made public before the NPRM was issued.
The Department has carefully considered both requests to extend the
comment period on the family seating NPRM filed by the Members and
Southwest, and the consumer advocacy groups opposition to an extension
request. After considering the arguments presented, the Department has
decided to extend the comment period of the proposed rule for 30 days
from October 8, 2024, to November 7, 2024. In doing so, the Department
acknowledges that the NPRM raises important issues which require in-
depth analysis and consideration by stakeholders. At the same time, the
Department agrees with the consumer advocacy groups that the proposals
in the NPRM are modeled after draft legislation that Department
submitted to Congress and should not be a surprise to the stakeholders.
The Department believes that granting a 30-day extension of the
original 60-day comment period, is sufficient to allow stakeholders to
conduct a thorough and careful consideration of all potential impacts
and prepare comments. Late-filed comments will be considered to the
extent practicable.
Signed in Washington, DC, under authority delegated at 49 CFR
1.27(n).
Subash Iyer,
Acting General Counsel, U.S. Department of Transportation.
[FR Doc. 2024-22632 Filed 10-2-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P
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