1、209 Office of the Secretary, DOT 259.4 PART 259ENHANCED PROTEC-TIONS FOR AIRLINE PAS-SENGERS Sec. 259.1 Purpose. 259.2 Applicability. 259.3 Definitions. 259.4 Contingency plan for lengthy tarmac delays. 259.5 Customer Service Plans 259.6 Notice and Contract of Carriage. 259.7 Response to consumer pr
2、oblems. AUTHORITY: 49 U.S.C. 40101(a)(4), 40101(a)(9), 40113(a), 41702, and 41712. SOURCE: 74 FR 69002, Dec. 30, 2009, unless otherwise noted. 259.1 Purpose. The purpose of this part is to miti-gate hardships for airline passengers during lengthy tarmac delays and oth-erwise to bolster air carriers
3、account-ability to consumers. 259.2 Applicability. This rule applies to all the flights of a certificated or commuter air carrier if the carrier operates scheduled pas-senger service or public charter service using any aircraft originally designed to have a passenger capacity of 30 or more seats, wi
4、th the following excep-tions: 259.5 and 259.7 do not apply to charter service. 259.3 Definitions. Certificated air carrier means a U.S. air carrier that holds a certificate issued under 49 U.S.C. 41102 to operate passenger service or an exemption from 49 U.S.C. 41102. Commuter air carrier means a U.
5、S. air carrier as established by 14 CFR 298.3(b) that is authorized to carry pas-sengers on at least five round trips per week on at least one route between two or more points according to a published flight schedule using small aircraft. Large hub airport means an airport that accounts for at least
6、 1.00 percent of the total enplanements in the United States. Medium hub airport means an airport accounting for at least 0.25 percent but less than 1.00 percent of the total enplanements in the United States. Small aircraft means any aircraft originally designed to have a maximum passenger capacity
7、 of 60 or fewer seats or a maximum payload capacity of 18,000 pounds or less. Tarmac delay means the holding of an aircraft on the ground either before taking off or after landing with no op-portunity for its passengers to deplane. 259.4 Contingency plan for lengthy tarmac delays. (a) Adoption of Pl
8、an. Each covered carrier shall adopt a Contingency Plan for Lengthy Tarmac Delays for its scheduled and public charter flights at each large and medium hub U.S. air-port at which it operates such air serv-ice and shall adhere to its plans terms. (b) Contents of Plan. Each Contin-gency Plan for Lengt
9、hy Tarmac Delays shall include, at a minimum, the fol-lowing: (1) For domestic flights, assurance that the air carrier will not permit an aircraft to remain on the tarmac for more than three hours unless: (i) The pilot-in-command determines there is a safety-related or security-re-lated reason (e.g.
10、, weather, a directive from an appropriate government agen-cy) why the aircraft cannot leave its position on the tarmac to deplane pas-sengers; or (ii) Air traffic control advises the pilot-in-command that returning to the gate or another disembarkation point elsewhere in order to deplane pas-senger
11、s would significantly disrupt air-port operations. (2) For international flights that de-part from or arrive at a U.S. airport, assurance that the air carrier will not permit an aircraft to remain on the tarmac at a large or medium hub U.S. airport for more than a set number of hours, as determined
12、by the carrier and set out in its contingency plan, before allowing passengers to deplane, unless: (i) The pilot-in-command determines there is a safety-related or security-re-lated reason why the aircraft cannot leave its position on the tarmac to deplane passengers; or (ii) Air traffic control adv
13、ises the pilot-in-command that returning to the gate or another disembarkation point elsewhere in order to deplane pas-sengers would significantly disrupt air-port operations. VerDate Mar2010 13:23 Feb 23, 2011 Jkt 223046 PO 00000 Frm 00219 Fmt 8010 Sfmt 8010 Y:SGML223046.XXX 223046WReier-Aviles on
14、DSKGBLS3C1PROD with CFRProvided by IHSNot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-210 14 CFR Ch. II (1111 Edition) 259.5 (3) For all flights, assurance that the air carrier will provide adequate food and potable water no later than two hours after the aircraft
15、leaves the gate (in the case of departure) or touches down (in the case of an arrival) if the aircraft remains on the tarmac, unless the pilot-in-command determines that safety or security considerations pre-clude such service; (4) For all flights, assurance of oper-able lavatory facilities, as well
16、 as ade-quate medical attention if needed, while the aircraft remains on the tarmac; (5) Assurance of sufficient resources to implement the plan; and (6) Assurance that the plan has been coordinated with airport authorities at all medium and large hub airports that the carrier serves, including medi
17、um and large hub diversion airports. (c) Amendment of plan. At any time, an air carrier may amend its Contin-gency Plan for Lengthy Tarmac Delays to decrease the time for aircraft to re-main on the tarmac for domestic flights covered in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, for aircraft to remain on the
18、 tarmac for international flights covered in paragraph (b)(2) of this sec-tion, and for the trigger point for food and water covered in paragraph (b)(3) of this section. An air carrier may also amend its plan to increase these inter-vals (up to the limits in this rule), in which case the amended pla
19、n shall apply only to those flights that are first offered for sale after the plans amendment. (d) Retention of records. Each air car-rier that is required to adopt a Contin-gency Plan for Lengthy Tarmac Delays shall retain for two years the following information about any tarmac delay that lasts at
20、 least three hours: (1) The length of the delay; (2) The precise cause of the delay; (3) The actions taken to minimize hardships for passengers, including the provision of food and water, the main-tenance and servicing of lavatories, and medical assistance; (4) Whether the flight ultimately took off
21、 (in the case of a departure delay or diversion) or returned to the gate; and (5) An explanation for any tarmac delay that exceeded 3 hours (i.e., why the aircraft did not return to the gate by the 3-hour mark). (e) Unfair and Deceptive Practice. An air carriers failure to comply with the assurances
22、 required by this rule and as contained in its Contingency Plan for Lengthy Tarmac Delays will be consid-ered an unfair and deceptive practice within the meaning of 49 U.S.C. 41712 that is subject to enforcement action by the Department. 259.5 Customer Service Plan. (a) Adoption of Plan. Each covere
23、d carrier shall adopt a Customer Service Plan applicable to its scheduled flights and shall adhere to this plans terms. (b) Contents of Plan. Each Customer Service Plan shall, at a minimum, ad-dress the following subjects: (1) Offering the lowest fare available; (2) Notifying consumers of known dela
24、ys, cancellations, and diversions; (3) Delivering baggage on time; (4) Allowing reservations to be held without payment or cancelled without penalty for a defined amount of time; (5) Providing prompt ticket refunds; (6) Properly accommodating pas-sengers with disabilities and other spe-cial-needs, i
25、ncluding during tarmac delays; (7) Meeting customers essential needs during lengthy tarmac delays; (8) Handling bumped passengers with fairness and consistency in the case of oversales; (9) Disclosing travel itinerary, can-cellation policies, frequent flyer rules, and aircraft configuration; (10) En
26、suring good customer service from code-share partners; (11) Ensuring responsiveness to cus-tomer complaints; and (12) Identifying the services it pro-vides to mitigate passenger inconven-iences resulting from cancellations and misconnects. (c) Self-auditing of Plan and Retention of Records. Each air
27、 carrier that is re-quired to adopt a Customer Service Plan shall audit its own adherence to its plan annually. Carriers shall make the results of their audits available for the Departments review upon request for two years following the date any audit is completed. VerDate Mar2010 13:23 Feb 23, 201
28、1 Jkt 223046 PO 00000 Frm 00220 Fmt 8010 Sfmt 8010 Y:SGML223046.XXX 223046WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with CFRProvided by IHSNot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-211 Office of the Secretary, DOT 271.2 259.6 Notice and Contract of Car-riage. (a) Each
29、air carrier that is required to adopt a Contingency Plan for Lengthy Tarmac Delays or a Customer Service Plan may include such plans in their Contract of Carriage. (b) Each air carrier that has a Web site shall post its Contract of Carriage on its Web site in easily accessible form, including all up
30、dates to its Con-tract of Carriage. (c) Each air carrier that is required to adopt a Contingency Plan for Lengthy Tarmac Delays shall, if it has a Web site but does not include such Contingency Plan for Lengthy Tarmac Delays in its Contract of Carriage, post its Contingency Plan for Lengthy Tarmac D
31、elays on its Web site in easily accessible form, including all updates to its Contingency Plan for Lengthy Tarmac Delays. (d) Each air carrier that is required to adopt a Customer Service Plan shall, if it has a Web site but does not include such Customer Service Plan in its Contract of Carriage, po
32、st its Cus-tomer Service Plan on its Web site in easily accessible form, including all up-dates to its Customer Service Plan. 259.7 Response to consumer prob-lems. (a) Designated Advocates for Pas-sengers Interests. Each covered carrier shall designate for its scheduled flights an employee who shall
33、 be responsible for monitoring the effects of flight delays, flight cancellations, and lengthy tarmac delays on passengers. This employee shall have input into de-cisions on which flights to cancel and which will be delayed the longest. (b) Informing consumers how to com-plain. Each covered carrier
34、shall make available the mailing address and e- mail or Web address of the designated department in the airline with which to file a complaint about its scheduled service. This information shall be pro-vided on the carriers Web site (if any), on all e-ticket confirmations and, upon request, at each
35、ticket counter and boarding gate staffed by the carrier. (c) Response to complaints. Each cov-ered carrier shall acknowledge receipt of each complaint regarding its sched-uled service to the complainant within 30 days of receiving it and shall send a substantive response to each complain-ant within
36、60 days of receiving the complaint. A complaint is a specific written expression of dissatisfaction concerning a difficulty or problem which the person experienced when using or attempting to use an airlines services. PART 271GUIDELINES FOR SUB-SIDIZING AIR CARRIERS PRO-VIDING ESSENTIAL AIR TRANS-PO
37、RTATION Sec. 271.1 Purpose. 271.2 Definitions. 271.3 Carrier subsidy need. 271.4 Carrier costs. 271.5 Carrier revenues. 271.6 Profit element. 271.7 Subsidy payout formula. 271.8 Rate period. 271.9 Discrimination prohibited. AUTHORITY: 49 U.S.C. Chapters 401, 417. SOURCE: ER1398, 49 FR 49846, Dec. 24
38、, 1984, unless otherwise noted. 271.1 Purpose. This part establishes the guidelines required by 49 U.S.C. 41736 to be used by the Department in establishing the fair and reasonable amount of com-pensation needed to ensure the con-tinuation of essential air service to an eligible place under 49 U.S.C
39、. 41731 and 41734. These guidelines are intended to cover normal carrier selection cases and rate renewal cases, and not nec-essarily emergency carrier selection cases. 60 FR 43524, Aug. 22, 1995 271.2 Definitions. As used in this part: Eligible place means a place in the United States that (1) Was
40、an eligible point under sec-tion 419 of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 as in effect before October 1, 1988; (2) Received scheduled air transpor-tation at any time between January 1, 1990, and November 4, 1990; and (3) Is not listed in Department of Transportation Orders 89937 and 89 1252 as a plac
41、e ineligible for com-pensation under Subchapter II of Chap-ter 417 of the Statute. VerDate Mar2010 13:23 Feb 23, 2011 Jkt 223046 PO 00000 Frm 00221 Fmt 8010 Sfmt 8010 Y:SGML223046.XXX 223046WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with CFRProvided by IHSNot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-
