Agency Information Collection; Activity Under OMB Review;
Reporting the Causes of Airline Cancellations and Delays
Federal Register Notice
August 31, 2001
Volume 66, Number 170
AGENCY: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), DOT.
ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public
Law 104-13, the BTS invites the general public, industry and other
governmental parties to comment on air carriers voluntarily reporting
on the causes of cancellations and delays of domestic scheduled
passenger flights. The voluntary data submission would be used to
identify specific problem areas within the national aviation system. By
classifying causes of delays into four categories and causes of
cancellations into three categories, the Department of Transportation
(DOT) would be able to readily identify problem areas within the air
transport system. With this knowledge, the DOT should be able to
address the airline delays and cancellations within its control.
The DOT is in the process of submitting an emergency request to OMB
to allow BTS to collect the voluntary causal data. BTS estimates that
participating air carriers will be ready to begin voluntary reporting
in early November, thus BTS is seeking OMB emergency approval rather than the normal approval process
established in 5 CFR Part 1320.
The participating air carriers regard their causal data as
confidential, proprietary business information; and have agreed to
voluntarily submit the data on the condition that the Federal
government use the data for internal purposes and not published or
released the data to the general public. In addition, the air carriers
expressed concerns that, at least initially, there would be technical
difficulties with the new voluntary reporting system which could affect
the accuracy of the resulting information. While BTS believes that
reports on causal data will eventually be useful to airline consumers,
this information must be is accurate and reliable. Thus, BTS has agreed
to treat the air carriers' voluntary casual data as confidential
business information. In order to gather public comment on a delay and
cancellation reporting system, BTS is drafting a notice of proposed
rulemaking (NPRM) that will propose the framework for a reporting
system. Once the NPRM becomes a final rule, BTS intends release and
publish causal data.
DATES: Written comments should be submitted by October 1, 2001.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be directed to: Office of Airline
Information, K-25, Room 4125, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 400
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001, FAX NO. 366-3383 or
EMAIL bernard.stankus@bts.gov.
Comments: Comments should identify the OMB # 2138-NEW. Persons
wishing the Department to acknowledge receipt of their comments must
submit with those comments a self-addressed stamped postcard on which
the following statement is made: Comments on OMB # 2138-NEW. The
postcard will be date/time stamped and returned.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Bernie Stankus Office of Airline Information, K-25, Room 4125, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 400
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001, (202) 366-4387.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
OMB Approval No. 2138-NEW
Title: Reporting the Causes of Airline Cancellations and Delays.
Form No.: BTS Form 234.
Type Of Review: New collection.
Respondents: Large certificated air carriers that account for at
least 1 percent of the domestic scheduled passenger revenues.
Number of Respondents: 10.
Programming Burden Per Respondent: 15 hours.
Total Burden: 150 hours.
Needs and Uses:
Identifying and Reducing Traffic Delays
The DOT would use the causal data collected and processed by BTS to
pinpoint and analyze air traffic delays and cancellations that occur
under DOT's control. Currently, BTS can identify which flights are
delayed or cancelled but, not the cause of the delay or cancellation.
By eliminating the delays and cancellations that are caused by extreme
weather, the air carrier or by the late arrival of an aircraft of a
previous flight, the DOT would be able to focus its attention to
solving problem areas within its control.
Reporting Burden for Voluntary Reporting
One of the reporting carriers, that participated in BTS' pilot
program on causal data, estimated that it took from 10 to 15 hours to
reprogram its reporting system. Once this reprogramming effort was
completed, the carrier stated that there was little, if any, additional
reporting burden required to submit the monthly on-time reports.
Ashish Sen,
Director, Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
[FR Doc. 01-22041 Filed 8-30-01; 8:45 am]
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