Action
Notice.
Summary
At a September 15, 2004, joint meeting, representative Alaskan air carriers, the United States Postal Service (USPS), and the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and Office of Secretary, agreed to develop a pilot program for collecting weekly T-100 data, in an effort to reduce air carrier reporting burden. Currently, air carriers transporting non-priority bypass mail pursuant to the Rural service Improvement act (RSIA) are required to submit monthly T-100 traffic reports to BTS and daily activity reports to USPS, which uses the daily report to monitor air carrier compliance with RSIA's requirements that air carriers provide service at least three days a week and exhibit adherence to those scheduled flights. Some carriers hired additional staff to complete the daily activity reports. If BTS adds two new data elements to the T-100 report and requires weekly submissions (due within 7 days after weeks end), both DOT's and USPS" data needs can be met. The two new data elements are: (1) Actual Day of Flight: the numeric day of the month in which the flight was flown; and (2) Aircraft Certification: A code to identify the type of mail operation, i.e., Bush Part 121, Bush Part 135, Bush Amphibious or Mainline. The pilot program will start on November 1, 2004. The carriers that participate in the pilot program will be relieved of the requirement to submit daily activity reports to USPS. If all parties are satisfied with the new data reporting, the pilot program will end with respect to data for December 31, 2004, and thereafter all Alaskan air carriers will be required to submit the weekly T-100 reports in lieu of the USPS daily activity reports. A representative sample of Alaskan air carriers (anticipated to comprise no more than nine) will be selected from those who volunteer. Carriers may volunteer for the program by contacting Ms. Jennifer Fabrizi at Jennifer.fabrizi@bts.gov or (202) 366-8513 no sooner than the publication date of this notice and no later than October 29, 2004.