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23 December 2006
[Federal Register: December 19, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 243)]
[Notices]
[Page 76017-76019]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19de06-101]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
Requirements Regarding Flights to College Bowl Games and Other
Special Events
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Department is publishing the following notice providing
guidance to colleges and other organizations wishing to arrange charter
flights to football bowl games, NCAA basketball playoff games, or other
special events.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dayton Lehman, Jr., Deputy Assistant
General Counsel, or Lisa Swafford-Brooks, Senior Attorney, Office of
Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings (C-70), 400 7th Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-9342.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice of Department of Transportation
Requirements Regarding Flights to
[[Page 76018]]
College Bowl Games and other Special Events.
This notice is to provide guidance to colleges and other
organizations wishing to arrange charter flights, including flights to
football bowl games, NCAA basketball playoff games, or other special
events. The notice is also intended to provide information regarding
the economic licensing and operational certification of air carriers by
the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). It is important that
colleges and other entities are fully aware of this information since
they often charter aircraft to travel to events and we wish to avoid
instances of organizations (1) contracting with entities that hold no
DOT economic authority; (2) unknowingly chartering aircraft from
entities that are not subject to the most stringent safety standards
and oversight of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a DOT
operating administration; or (3) reselling seats on a charter flight
without their first having obtained proper authority to do so.
There are generally two primary avenues whereby a college or other
entity may seek to sponsor air transportation to a college bowl game or
other special event. The organization may choose to (1) contract
directly with a carrier to provide the air transportation to the bowl
game or other special event or (2) contract with a Public Charter
Operator or an air charter broker, who would, in turn, locate a direct
air carrier to provide the air transportation.
Contracting Directly With an Air Carrier
If the college or other entity chooses to contract with the air
carrier directly, they should be aware of the economic requirements
that govern the carrier's operations. Before any U.S. aircraft operator
can hold itself out to the public as providing interstate scheduled or
charter service, it must have DOT economic authority. In general, such
authority is granted to large aircraft operators in the form of an air
carrier certificate issued under 49 U.S.C. 41101. Prior to granting
such authority, this Department must find a carrier to be ``fit'',
which entails a determination that the carrier has adequate financial
resources, a competent management team and a proper compliance
disposition. This fitness requirement is a continuing one and we
monitor certificated carriers to ensure their compliance with the
requirement. In addition, certificated carriers must meet certain DOT
economic rules such as minimum liability insurance requirements (see,
14 CFR part 205) and escrow requirements to protect charterers (see, 14
CFR part 212).
Likewise, the FAA requires that any U.S. aircraft operator
providing scheduled or charter service with large aircraft must comply
with the safety-related certification and operating rules of part 121
of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR part 121). Those
regulations are the most detailed and stringent of any of the FAA's
aircraft operating rules and the FAA provides heightened safety
surveillance of carriers subject to part 121.
There are, however, operators of large, jet-powered passenger
aircraft that are not required to have DOT economic authority or to
comply with 14 CFR part 121. These operators are regulated under the
safety standards of part 125 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14
CFR Part 125). While these aircraft operators may conduct ``private''
air services for a few entities for compensation or hire, they do not
have authority to transport the general public by engaging in common
carriage (e.g., holding out to the general public, or a segment of the
general public such as colleges, through advertisements or telephone
listings or through agents or brokers, or otherwise acquiring a
reputation for common carriage). Since carriers operating under part
125 are not authorized to hold out to the general public, part 125 does
not contain safety standards as stringent as part 121. Likewise,
carriers lawfully operating under part 125 hold no economic license
from DOT and are not required to comply with DOT's insurance or
monetary escrow requirements. You should therefore inquire about the
specific authority under which the carrier you will be using will
operate.
In addition to determining whether the air carrier has appropriate
authority, any organization that contracts with an air carrier directly
and wishes to resell seats on the charter flight to the public (for
example, to its students or alumni, to the press, or to its club
members), whether or not as a profit-making venture, should understand
its own role as an ``indirect air carrier,'' whose reselling of the air
transportation must be licensed under the Department's Public Charter
regulations.
Public Charter operators must comply with the requirements of 14
CFR Part 380. Among the most important requirements of 14 CFR Part 380
are the rules designed to prevent economic harm to charter passengers,
including the requirements that (1) before any sales of seats takes
place there is in place an approved Public Charter prospectus based
upon a contract between the charter operator and a direct air carrier
covering the transportation to be sold and (2) all payments by charter
participants to charter operators be covered in full by a security
agreement or in part by a security agreement with the payments
themselves being placed directly into an escrow account. There are
other specific rules governing Public Charter solicitation and the
content of the charter contract between the Public Charter operator and
the charter participants, including provisions on the cancellation of
trips and a participant's right to a refund.
Exemptions From the Public Charter Requirements
We recognize that organizations may have only a short time after
learning of an event in which to organize participation in a charter
flight, such as might occur with a bowl game or NCAA basketball playoff
appearance. The Department has always been willing to work with
organizations that can show that an exemption from certain of its rules
is in the public interest. While such matters are reviewed on a case-
by-case basis, in seeking such relief, an organization should be
prepared to show, at a minimum, that it has a contract with a carrier
holding appropriate authority for the flight and that appropriate
financial arrangements are in place to protect consumer payments.
Using a Public Charter Operator or an Air Charter Broker
Organizations may contract with a Public Charter operator to
organize a charter flight. Any organization that does so should assure
itself that the Public Charter operator has complied with the
requirements of part 380, as described above (and part 381, where
applicable, as described below). Organizations may also contract
directly with an air carrier through an ``air charter broker.'' An air
charter broker cannot misrepresent itself as an air carrier and,
because it does not hold authority from the Department, it cannot in
its own right contract to sell air transportation. Therefore, it must
generally have authority to act either (1) as the agent of a chartering
organization in contracting with an air carrier or (2) as the agent of
the air carrier in contracting with a chartering organization. Air
charter brokers also may act merely as a ``go-between'' without being
involved in the actual contract between the carrier and the charter
customer, e.g., by locating a customer for an air carrier and being
paid a finder's fee by the carrier, but this is a rare occurrence.
[[Page 76019]]
Organizations using air charter brokers should be aware that, since
the Department does not license air charter brokers, there is no DOT-
required financial security in place to protect an organization's
payments to a broker that is the lawful agent of the organization or
who acts in a ``go-between'' function. With respect to air charter
brokers that state that they are acting as the agent of one or more air
carriers, prior to signing a contract for air services organizations
should take steps to assure themselves of the agency relationship and
that the carrier represented is properly licensed by DOT and FAA to
provide the air transportation.\1\
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\1\ On October 8, 2004, this office issued a notice regarding
the lawful role of air charter brokers in the provision of air
transportation and our enforcement policy covering such operations.
The notice, which was published in the Federal Register, provides
information on a variety of topics involving air charter brokers,
including contracting procedures and marketing. 69 FR 61429, Oct.
18, 2004; erratum published 69 FR 62321, Oct. 25, 2004. The notice
may be found on the office's website at: http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/rules/BrokerNoticeFinal.pdf
.
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Tickets to a Game or Other Special Event Sold in Conjunction With a
Flight
It is also important to note that specific rules apply to
situations where tickets to a game or other special event are being
offered in conjunction with a flight, whether it is a charter flight or
a regularly scheduled flight. Under 14 CFR Part 381, an entity that
offers special event or game tickets in connection with a flight must
be in physical possession of a sufficient number of tickets or have a
written contract for the tickets, which must be directly traceable to
the actual sponsor of the game or other special event. Failure to meet
Part 381's requirements can entitle a participant to a full refund,
including the price of the air fare.
We seek the chartering public's cooperation and assistance to
ensure that they arrange an enjoyable and secure traveling experience.
If you have any questions or desire additional information, please
contact Dayton Lehman, Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Aviation
Enforcement and Proceedings, or Lisa Swafford-Brooks, Senior Attorney
in that office, at (202) 366-9342. If you wish to ascertain whether a
particular aircraft operator has DOT air carrier economic authority,
you may contact Bill Bertram, Chief of the Air Carrier Fitness Division
at (202) 366-1062.
An unofficial electronic version of this document is available on
the World Wide Web at http://dms.dot.gov/reports and at http://airconsumer
.ost.dot.gov/rules/guidance.htm
Dated: December 13, 2006.
Samuel Podberesky,
Assistant General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings.
[FR Doc. 06-9772 Filed 12-14-06; 4:01 pm]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P