Reports, Forms and Recordkeeping Requirements; Activity Under OMB
Review; Report of Financial and Reporting Statistics for Large
Certificated Air Carriers
Federal Register Notice
May 17, 2002
Volume 67, Number 96
AGENCY: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), DOT.
ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information
Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below has been forwarded to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for extension of currently
approved collections. The ICR describes the nature of the information
collection and its expected burden. The Federal Register Notice with a
60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection
of information was published on January 16, 2002 (67 FR 2282).
DATES: Written comments should be submitted by June 17, 2002.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bernie Stankus, Office of Airline
Information, K-14, Room 4125, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 400
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001, Telephone Number (202)
366-4387, Fax Number (202) 366-3383 or e-mail bernard.stankus@bts.gov.
Comments: Comments are invited on whether the proposed collection
of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions
of the Department, including whether the information will have
practical utility; the accuracy of the Department's estimate of burden
of the proposed information collections; ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information on respondents, in including
the use of automated collection techniques of other forms of
information technology.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20503, Attention: BTS Desk Officer.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)
Title: Report of Financial and Operating Statistics for Large
Certificated Air Carriers
Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
OMB Control Number: 2138-0013.
Forms: BTS Form 41.
Affected Public: Large certificated air carriers.
Number of Respondents: 74.
Estimated Time per Response: 4 hours per schedule, an average
carrier may submit 90 schedules in one year.
Total Annual Burden: 24,428 hours.
Needs and Uses: Program uses for Form 41 data are as follows:
Mail Rates
The Department of Transportation sets and updates the international
and mainline Alaska mail rates based on carrier aircraft operating
expense, traffic and operational data. Form 41 cost data, especially
fuel costs, terminal expenses, and line haul expenses are used in
arriving at rate levels. DOT revises the established rates based on the
percentage of unit cost changes in the carriers' operations. These
updating procedures have resulted in the carriers receiving rates of
compensation that more closely parallel their costs of providing mail
service and contribute to the carriers' economic well-being.
Submission of U.S. Carrier Data to ICAO
As a party to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, the
United States is obligated to provide the International Civil Aviation
Organization with financial and statistical data on operations of U.S.
air carriers. Over 99 percent of the data filed with ICAO is extracted
from the carriers' Form 41 reports.
Standard Foreign Fare and Rate Levels
DOT uses Form 41 cost data to calculate the Standard Foreign Fare
Level (SFFL) for passengers and the Standard Foreign Rate Level (SFRL)
for freight. Any international fare or rate set below this fare level
are automatically approved. Separate passenger fare and rate levels are
established for Canadian, Atlantic, Latin America, and Pacific areas.
In markets where liberal bilateral or multilateral pricing agreements
provide for more competitive open market pricing, such agreements may
take precedence over the SFFL and SFRL.
Carrier Fitness
Fitness determinations are made for both new entrants and
established U.S. domestic carriers proposing a substantial change in
operations. A portion of these applications consists of an operating
plan for the first year (14 CFR part 204) and an associated projection
of revenues and expenses. The carrier's operating costs, included in
these projections, are compared against the cost data in Form 41 for a
carrier or carriers with the same aircraft type and similar operating
characteristics. Such a review validates the reasonableness of the
carrier's operating plan.
Form 41 reports, particularly balance sheet reports and cash flow
statements play a major role in the identification of vulnerable
carriers. Data comparisons are made between current and past periods in
order to assess the current financial position of the carrier.
Financial trend lines are extended into the future to analyze the
continued viability of the carrier. DOT reviews three areas of a
carrier's operation: (1) The qualifications of its management team, (2)
its disposition to comply with laws and regulations, and (3) its
financial posture. DOT must determine whether or not a carrier has
sufficient financial resources to conduct its operations without
imposing undue risk on the traveling public. Moreover, once a carrier
is operating, DOT is required to monitor its continuing fitness.
Status Reports
Senior DOT officials must be kept fully informed as to all current
and developing economic issues affecting the airline industry. In
preparing financial conditions reports or status reports on a
particular airline, financial and traffic data are analyzed. Briefing
papers may use the same information.
War Air Service Program (Emergency Preparedness)
Under the War Air Service Program (WASP), FAA develops an official
airline guide to establish air carrier boarding priorities in the event
of a national emergency. The inventory of aircraft available for WASP
equals the total aircraft fleet operated by certificated air carriers
less the number of the largest wide-body aircraft that are allocated to
the Civil Reserve Aircraft Fleet Program. Data on air carrier aircraft
inventories, plus interim updates of acquisitions and retirements are
used to assess the air transportation capabilities of the U.S. airline
industry. This assessment is used in developing plans for emergency
utilization of U.S. airline industry aircraft and resources in the
event of a national emergency and/or mobilization.
Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act
DOT is using Form 41 financial data to establish benchmarks to
assess the reasonableness of air carrier claims under the Stabilization
Act.
Bernard Stankus,
Acting Assistant Director, Airline Information, Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
[FR Doc. 02-12373 Filed 5-16-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-FE-P
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