82 FR 14437 - Reporting of Data for Mishandled Baggage and Wheelchairs and Scooters Transported in Aircraft Cargo Compartments; Extension of Compliance Date

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 53 (March 21, 2017)

The Department of Transportation is amending its regulations by extending the compliance date of its final rule on reporting of data for mishandled baggage and wheelchairs in aircraft cargo compartments from January 1, 2018 to January 1, 2019. Under that final rule, the mishandled-baggage data that air carriers are required to report changed, from the number of Mishandled Baggage Reports and the number of domestic passenger enplanements to the number of mishandled bags and the number of enplaned bags. The rule also requires separate statistics for mishandled wheelchairs and scooters used by passengers with disabilities and transported in aircraft cargo compartments. This extension is in response to a request by Airlines for America (A4A) and Delta.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 53 (Tuesday, March 21, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 14437-14438]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-04582]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

14 CFR Part 234

[Docket No. DOT-RITA-2011-0001]
RIN 2105-AE65


Reporting of Data for Mishandled Baggage and Wheelchairs and 
Scooters Transported in Aircraft Cargo Compartments; Extension of 
Compliance Date

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation is amending its regulations 
by extending the compliance date of its final rule on reporting of data 
for mishandled baggage and wheelchairs in aircraft cargo compartments 
from January 1, 2018 to January 1, 2019. Under that final rule, the 
mishandled-baggage data that air carriers are required to report 
changed, from the number of Mishandled Baggage Reports and the number 
of domestic passenger enplanements to the number of mishandled bags and 
the number of enplaned bags. The rule also requires separate statistics 
for mishandled wheelchairs and scooters used by passengers with 
disabilities and transported in aircraft cargo compartments. This 
extension is in response to a request by Airlines for America (A4A) and 
Delta.

DATES: This final rule is effective March 21, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Blane A. Workie, 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:

Electronic Access and Filing

    A copy of all materials related to the original rulemaking 
proceeding (2105-AE41) may be viewed online at http://www.regulations.gov using the docket numbers listed above. A copy of 
this notice will also be placed on the docket. Electronic retrieval 
help and guidelines are available on the Web site. It is available 24 
hours each day, 365 days each year. An electronic copy of this document 
may also be downloaded from the Office of the Federal Register's Web 
site at http://www.ofr.gov and the Government Publishing Office's Web 
site at http://www.thefederalregister.org.

Background

    On November 2, 2016, the Department of Transportation published a 
final rule in the Federal Register (81 FR 76300) (RIN 2105-AE41), 
titled ``Reporting of Data for Mishandled Baggage and Wheelchairs and 
Scooters Transported in Aircraft Cargo Compartments.'' This rule 
changes the methodology for the mishandled-baggage data that U.S. air 
carriers are required to report to the Department and requires U.S. air 
carriers to report separate statistics in their mishandled baggage 
reporting for mishandled wheelchairs and scooters used by disabled 
passengers and transported in aircraft cargo compartments.
    On January 20, 2017, the White House Chief of Staff issued a 
memorandum entitled, ``Regulatory Freeze Pending Review'' (``Memo''). 
The Memo directed heads of executive departments and agencies to take 
certain steps to ensure that the President's appointees and designees 
have the opportunity to review new and pending regulations. It 
instructed agencies to temporarily postpone the effective dates of 
regulations that had been published in the Federal Register, but were 
not yet effective, until 60 days after the date of the memorandum.
    On January 27, 2017, the Department received a request from 
Airlines for America (A4A) to extend the compliance date of the final 
rule on reporting data for mishandled baggage and wheelchairs. In that 
request, the A4A cites the Memo as a reason to extend the compliance 
date. On February 10, 2017, Delta Air Lines also submitted a request to 
the Department expressing support for extending the compliance date 
which also referenced the Memo. On March 2, 2017, A4A sent a follow-up 
to its original request specifying that if the rulemaking remains that 
they are requesting that the implementation period of the final rule on 
mishandled baggage and wheelchairs be delayed one year until January 
2019 in the spirit of the Memo. A4A states that industry is facing 
challenges with parts of this regulation and needs more time to 
implement it.
    After carefully considering the requests, we have decided to grant 
an extension of the compliance date for the final rule on reporting of 
mishandled baggage and wheelchairs until January 1, 2019. As such, we 
also intend to extend the compliance date for the baggage handling 
statistics provision (14 CFR 234.6) in the final rule titled 
``Enhancing Airline Passenger Protections III,'' which was published 
contemporaneously with the final rule on reporting of data for 
mishandled baggage and wheelchairs, to January 1, 2019.

    Issued this 2nd day of March 2017 in Washington, DC, under 
authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.27(n).
Judith S. Kaleta,
Deputy General Counsel.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 234

    Air carriers, Mishandled baggage, Ontime statistics, Reporting, 
Uniform system of accounts.

    Accordingly, the Department of Transportation amends 14 CFR part 
234 as follows:

[[Page 14438]]

PART 234--AIRLINE SERVICE QUALITY PERFORMANCE REPORTS

0
1. The authority citation for part 234 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 329, 41101, and 41701.


Sec.  234.6  [Amended]

0
2. In Sec.  234.6, in paragraphs (a) and (b) introductory text, remove 
the date ``January 1, 2018'' and add in its place ``January 1, 2019''.

[FR Doc. 2017-04582 Filed 3-20-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P