83 FR 53991 - Airline Reporting of Data on Mishandled Baggage, Wheelchairs, and Scooters

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 208 (October 26, 2018)

This document addresses the obligations of large U.S. airlines to report to the Department mishandled baggage, wheelchairs, and scooters data following the enactment of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 208 (Friday, October 26, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 53991-53992]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-23475]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

14 CFR Chapter II


Airline Reporting of Data on Mishandled Baggage, Wheelchairs, and 
Scooters

AGENCY: Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings, Office of the 
Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation (Department).

ACTION: Notification of enforcement.

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SUMMARY: This document addresses the obligations of large U.S. airlines 
to report to the Department mishandled baggage, wheelchairs, and 
scooters data following the enactment of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 
2018.

DATES: This enforcement notification is applicable on October 26, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Wood, Senior Attorney, Office of 
Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings (C-70), U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, 202-
366-9342 (telephone), [email protected] (email).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 2, 2016, the Department 
published a final rule in the Federal Register titled ``Reporting of 
Data for Mishandled Baggage and Wheelchairs and Scooters Transported in 
Aircraft Cargo Compartments.'' 81 FR 76300. This November 2 final rule 
changed the methodology that airlines are required to use in reporting 
to the Department their mishandled baggage data, from the number of 
mishandled baggage reports (MBRs) filed with the airline and the number 
of domestic passenger enplanements to the number of mishandled bags and 
the number of enplaned bags.\1\ The rule also requires airlines to 
report separate statistics for mishandled wheelchairs and scooters. On 
November 3, 2016, the Department published another final rule titled 
``Enhancing Airline Passenger Protections III,'' 81 FR 76826, that, 
among other things, lowered the reporting carrier threshold for 
mishandled baggage from at least 1 percent of domestic scheduled 
passenger revenues to at least 0.5 percent. The November 3 final rule 
further requires reporting carriers that market domestic scheduled 
codeshare flights to file separate mishandled baggage data for 
codeshare flights that carry only one U.S. carrier's code. In March 
2017, the Department provided that carriers would be required to comply 
with the changes to mishandled baggage reporting requirements made by 
these two final rules with respect to air transportation occurring on 
or after January 1, 2019. See 82 FR 14437 (March 21, 2017); 82 FR 14604 
(March 22, 2017).
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    \1\ Currently, airlines report the number of MBRs filed by 
passengers with the airline. One MBR might cover more than one bag 
because a single MBR could be submitted by a family--or even an 
individual--with multiple mishandled bags. Under the new 
methodology, airlines report the number of bags that were mishandled 
as opposed to the number of MBRs filed by passengers. Also, today, 
airlines report the number of passenger enplanements. Under the new 
methodology, U.S. airlines will report the number of checked bags 
enplaned (including bags checked at the gate and ``valet'' bags) 
rather than the number of passenger enplanements.
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    On October 5, 2018, the President signed the FAA Reauthorization 
Act of 2018 (FAA Act) into law. See Public Law 115-254. Section 441 of 
the FAA Act states that ``[t]he compliance date of the final rule, 
dated November 2, 2016, on the reporting of data for mishandled baggage 
and wheelchairs in aircraft cargo compartments (81 FR 76300) shall be 
effective not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this 
Act.'' \2\
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    \2\ The FAA Act also includes another section related to 
mishandled baggage reporting. Section 410 of the FAA Act states that 
``[n]ot later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Transportation shall study and publicize for 
comment a cost-benefit analysis to air carriers and consumers of 
changing the baggage reporting requirements of section 234.6 of 
title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, before implementation of such 
requirements . . .'' The Department must also report to Congress on 
the findings of the cost-benefit analysis. The Department does not 
view sections 441 and 410 as inconsistent with each other, because 
it interprets section 410 as applying only to prospective changes, 
and as not applying to the changes made by the final rules issued 
November 2, 2016 and November 3, 2016. In June 2018, the Department 
announced its initiation of a rulemaking, Reporting of Data for 
Mishandled Baggage and Wheelchairs and Scooters Transportation in 
Aircraft Cargo Compartments II (RIN #2105-AE77), ``to address 
substantial challenges in accurately reporting, under the mishandled 
baggage reporting final rules published in November 2016, data for 
bags handled by multiple airlines and bags that traveled on both 
reportable domestic segments and nonreportable international 
segments.'' See https://www.transportation.gov/regulations/report-on-significant-rulemakings. The Department will conduct a cost-
benefit analysis for proposed changes to the baggage reporting 
requirements of 14 CFR 234.6 and report to Congress as required by 
section 410 of the FAA Act.
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    By this notification, the Office of Aviation Enforcement and 
Proceedings (Enforcement Office) is providing guidance to affected U.S. 
carriers on compliance with mishandled baggage, wheelchair, and scooter 
reporting requirements following the enactment of the FAA Act. Section 
441 of the FAA Act provides that the compliance date for the November 
2, 2016 final rule shall be effective not later than 60 days after

[[Page 53992]]

enactment of the Act, which is December 4, 2018. Accordingly, airlines 
determined by the Department's Office of Airline Information (OAI) as 
accounting for at least 1 percent of domestic scheduled passenger 
revenues for calendar year 2018 \3\ must submit mishandled baggage data 
to the Department using the new mishandled baggage methodology and must 
separately report statistics for mishandled wheelchairs and scooters 
for domestic scheduled flights they operate beginning December 4, 2018 
and through December 31, 2018. See 81 FR 73000 (November 2, 2016). The 
airlines must submit this data to the Department no later than January 
15, 2019.\4\ The data would consist of: (1) Operating carrier code; (2) 
month and year of data; (3) number of mishandled bags; (4) number of 
bags enplaned; (5) number of mishandled wheelchairs and scooters; (6) 
number of wheelchairs and scooters enplaned; (7) certification that to 
the best of the signing official's knowledge and belief the data is 
true, correct, and complete; and (8) date of submission, name of 
airline representative, and signature.
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    \3\ For calendar year 2018, 12 airlines reached the reporting 
threshold of 906,261,000 in domestic scheduled passenger revenue 
(one percent of total domestic scheduled passenger revenue) and are 
required to report mishandled baggage data. These airlines are: 
Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Envoy Air, 
ExpressJet Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue 
Airways, SkyWest Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines and 
United Airlines.
    \4\ As section 441 only changes the compliance date of the 
November 2 final rule, airlines are not required to submit data for 
any code-share operations, which is a requirement of the November 3, 
2016, final rule.
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    If a reporting carrier is unable to report accurate data on the 
total number of mishandled bags and enplaned bags for the entire 
reportable period beginning December 4, 2018, and ending December 31, 
2018, the Enforcement Office will exercise its enforcement discretion 
as appropriate.\5\ An airline should inform the Enforcement Office no 
later than January 3, 2019, if the airline is unable to provide 
accurate mishandled baggage data using the methodology set forth in the 
November 2, 2016 rule for the December 2018 reportable period. To the 
extent the Enforcement Office decides not to pursue action against an 
airline that does not report the required data because of reliability 
concerns, in the interest of providing air travel consumers with access 
to reliable mishandled baggage data, the Enforcement Office expects 
that the airline will accurately report mishandled baggage data to the 
Department using the prior mishandled bag reporting methodology (i.e., 
the total number of passengers enplaned and the total number of MBRs 
filed with the airline in the manner described in 14 CFR 234.6(a) and 
OAI Technical Reporting Directive #29A, for the flights it operates 
December 1 through 31, 2018). Even if an airline indicates an inability 
to report accurately the total number of mishandled bags and enplaned 
bags, the Enforcement Office will expect the airline to accurately 
report the total number of mishandled wheelchairs and scooters and 
total number of wheelchair and scooters enplaned. Because the 
Enforcement Office expects that airlines should be able to accurately 
report mishandled wheelchair and scooter data, the Enforcement Office 
requests a detailed explanation no later than January 3, 2019, from any 
airline asserting that it is not able to accurately report wheelchair 
and scooter data to the Department for flights beginning December 4, 
2018.
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    \5\ During the past year, the Enforcement Office has been 
working with the reporting carriers to ensure that they are able to 
report new mishandled baggage data for flights on or after January 
1, 2019. This notification is not intended to suggest an airline's 
delay in submitting the new mishandled baggage data for flights 
occurring on or after January 1, 2019, would lead the Enforcement 
Office to exercise its enforcement discretion.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on October 22, 2018.
Blane A. Workie,
Assistant General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings.
[FR Doc. 2018-23475 Filed 10-25-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P