81 FR 85906 - Refunding Baggage Fees for Delayed Checked Bags

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 229 (November 29, 2016)

This action extends the comment period for an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on refunding baggage fees for delayed checked bags that was published in the Federal Register on October 31, 2016. The Department of Transportation is extending the period for persons to submit comments on this rulemaking from November 30, 2016, to January 17, 2017. This extension is in response to a petition by Airlines for America.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 229 (Tuesday, November 29, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 85906]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-28681]


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Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 229 / Tuesday, November 29, 2016 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 85906]]



DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

14 CFR Part 259

[Docket No. DOT-OST-2016-0208]
RIN 2105-AE53


Refunding Baggage Fees for Delayed Checked Bags

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

ACTION: Extension of comment period on advance notice of proposed 
rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: This action extends the comment period for an Advance Notice 
of Proposed Rulemaking on refunding baggage fees for delayed checked 
bags that was published in the Federal Register on October 31, 2016. 
The Department of Transportation is extending the period for persons to 
submit comments on this rulemaking from November 30, 2016, to January 
17, 2017. This extension is in response to a petition by Airlines for 
America.

DATES: Comments should be filed by January 17, 2017. Late-filed 
comments will be considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: You may file comments identified by the docket number DOT-
OST-2016-0208 by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow 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., between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET, 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: (202) 493-2251.
    Instructions: You must include the agency name and docket number 
DOT-OST-2016-0208 or the Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) for the 
rulemaking at the beginning of your comment. All comments received will 
be posted without change to http://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.). 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 http://DocketsInfo.dot.gov.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents and 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or to the street 
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the 
docket.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Clereece Kroha, Senior Trial Attorney, 
Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., Washington, DC 20590, 202-
366-9342, 202-366-7152 (fax), [email protected] (email).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 31, 2016, the Department of 
Transportation published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
(ANPRM) to solicit public comment on how to appropriately implement a 
statutory requirement in recent legislation for airlines to refund 
checked baggage fees when they fail to deliver the bags in a timely 
manner. Specifically, the Department seeks comment on how to define a 
baggage delay, and the appropriate method for providing the refund for 
delayed baggage. See 81 FR 75347 (October 31, 2016). Comments on the 
matters discussed in the ANPRM were to be received 30 days after 
publication or by November 30, 2016.
    On November 15, 2016, we received a petition from Airlines for 
America (A4A) for a 48-day extension of the comment period for this 
rulemaking. According to the petition, the extension is appropriate 
because the ANPRM concerns a requirement that implicates several 
operational and financial disciplines within the airlines, which will 
require the assessment of how internal information systems should be 
re-worked. A4A also indicates that additional time is needed in order 
to coordinate comments from different member carriers. Further, A4A 
points out that the current comment period is effectively diminished by 
the Thanksgiving holiday and an extension into December would be 
similarly diminished by the Christmas holiday season because many 
personnel would take extended vacations during these time periods. We 
received no comments on A4A's petition for extension.
    After carefully considering A4A's petition, we have decided to 
grant the extension of 48 days (January 17, 2017), for the public to 
comment on the ANPRM.

    Issued this 18th day of November, 2016, in Washington, DC.
Judith S. Kaleta,
Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2016-28681 Filed 11-28-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P