DOT 51-14
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DOT Fines Southwest for Violating Price Advertising Rule, Assesses Additional Penalties for Violating Previous Cease and Desist Provisions
BTS Releases March North American Freight Numbers
BTS 26-14 Advisory
BTS Releases March North American Freight Numbers U.S.-NAFTA trade totaled $101.5 billion in March 2014, the second highest amount on record, as four of five transportation modes – air, vessel, pipeline, and trucks – carried more U.S.-NAFTA trade than in March 2013, according to the TransBorder freight data released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). The March 2014 trade total, a 6.2 percent increase from March 2013, was exceeded only by trade value in October 2013. U.S-NAFTA trade has increased from the same month of the previous year in eight of the last nine months, interrupted by a 0.2 percent decrease in January. The January decline reflected the severe weather in the northern states and along the U.S.-Canada border.
Trade by Mode
Vessel freight increased 9.9 percent, air rose 6.7 percent and truck freight rose 6.3 percent. Rail declined 5.2 percent from year to year. The increase in the value of freight carried by pipelines reflects both a rise in the volume and prices for oil and other petroleum products, the primary commodity transported by pipelines. Trucks carry nearly three-fifths of U.S.-NAFTA trade and are the most heavily utilized mode for moving goods to and from both U.S.-NAFTA partners. Trucks carried 60.1 percent of U.S.-NAFTA trade in March 2014, accounting for $31.2 billion of exports and $29.8 billion of imports. Although the value of freight carried by rail decreased from year to year, rail remained the second largest mode moving 14.8 percent of all U.S.-NAFTA trade, followed by vessel at 8.4 percent, pipeline at 8.2 percent and air at 3.7 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 83.1 percent of the total U.S.-NAFTA freight flows. Trade with Canada Year-to-year, the value of U.S.-Canada trade by pipeline increased the most of any mode, growing 25.2 percent. U.S.-Canada pipeline trade comprised 94.9 percent of total U.S.-NAFTA pipeline trade in March. Vessel freight exports to Canada increased 105.3 percent due to an increase in exports of mineral fuels, a larger percentage increase than the 95.5 percent rise in exports by pipeline. Mineral fuel exports by vessel to Canada in March were valued at $1.15 billion, 2.1 percent more than the $1.12 billion transported by pipeline. Trade with Mexico With U.S.-Mexico trade more dependent on trucks than trade on the northern border, a 10.2 percent rise in truck freight fueled the overall 8.8 percent increase in southern border trade. Shipments by truck comprised 77.4 percent of the dollar value of the overall increase. For exports, a 14.1 percent increase in shipments using trucks made up 86.0 percent of the overall 10.7 percent increase. See BTS Transborder Data Release for summary tables and additional data. See North American Transborder Freight Data on the BTS website for additional data for surface modes since 1995 and all modes since 2004.
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BTS Releases March 2014 Passenger Airline Employment Data
BTS 25-14 advisory
BTS Releases March 2014 Passenger Airline Employment DataU.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 383,610 workers in March 2014, 0.8 percent more than in March 2013, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today. March was the fourth consecutive month that full-time equivalent (FTE) employment for U.S. scheduled passenger carriers was higher than the same month of the previous year. The March 2014 FTE total for scheduled passenger carriers was 3,070 more than in March 2013 and the highest monthly total since October 2012 (Table 3). Scheduled passenger airline categories include network, low-cost, regional and other airlines. The five network airlines that collectively employ two-thirds of the scheduled passenger airline FTEs reported 0.6 percent more FTEs in March 2014 than in March 2013. US Airways, Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines increased FTEs from March 2013 while United Airlines reduced FTEs. Network airlines operate a significant portion of their flights using at least one hub where connections are made for flights to down-line destinations or spoke cities. Of the six low-cost carriers, four - Allegiant Airlines, Spirit Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Virgin America - reported an increase in FTEs from March 2013 while two - Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines - reported a decline. Low-cost airlines operate under a low-cost business model, with infrastructure and aircraft operating costs below the overall industry average. Among the 13 regional carriers, four carriers reported reduced employment levels in March compared to the previous year: Endeavor Airlines, Chautauqua Airlines, American Eagle Airlines and Shuttle America. The others reported increases. Regional carriers typically provide service from small cities, using primarily regional jets to support the network carriers’ hub and spoke systems. See Passenger Airline Employment press release for summary tables and additional data. Historical employment data can be found on the BTS web site.
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DOT Tentatively Approves IATA’s Data Transmission Standard, Adds Measures to Protect Privacy and Address Other Consumer and Industry Concerns
DOT 49-14 DOT Tentatively Approves IATA’s Data Transmission Standard, Adds Measures to Protect Privacy and Address Other Consumer and Industry Concerns WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation today tentatively approved a proposal that would help modernize the marketing and sale of airline products by enabling all of the market players –airlines, travel agents, global distribution systems (GDSs), and consumers – to “speak the same language” in their communications with each other through a common data transmission standard. The new proposal for a data transmission standard was submitted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade association for many of the world’s airlines. The Department’s tentative approval includes several safeguards specifically designed to protect privacy, ensure competition and consumer choice, and make clear the voluntary nature of the standard and its availability to all airline industry participants. The absence of a common, up-to-date data transmission standard has meant consumers must check multiple sources to identify competing fare options and information about the comparative cost of additional ancillary services, such as extra leg room, Wi-Fi, and advance boarding, that many of today’s air travelers view as critical to a satisfying trip. The new data transmission standard to be developed under the IATA proposal would facilitate the development of systems to allow consumers and travel agents to readily access the information they seek, and make meaningful comparisons among all the choices in the marketplace, without necessarily having to check multiple sources. It would also enable travel providers to develop systems to better tailor their offerings to the needs of individual travelers with customized price quotes including not only the air fare but also ancillary services. The Department tentatively finds that the proposed communication standard would facilitate the development of systems that would create consumer access to more and better information, and give the industry tools to better respond to consumer demand creating enhanced efficiency and more competition in the marketplace. When IATA initially submitted its proposal, a number of commenting parties raised concerns that for consumers to take advantage of the new system they would need to provide personal information that could create privacy issues and undermine the public benefits of the proposal. IATA, together with many of the parties that had initially raised objections to the proposal, later filed a joint motion asking the Department to approve the proposal subject to new conditions addressing consumer privacy and various other concerns that had been raised. The Department’s tentative decision acknowledges these steps and further strengthens safeguards to protect consumers. The Department has added several consumer safeguards ensuring that those shopping for air travel could not be required to disclose personal information, and specifying that airlines and ticket agents would be obligated to follow their published privacy policies on the sharing and storing of personal information. The Department also makes clear that consumers’ ability to shop anonymously must not be undermined by new data transmission standards for communications and marketing practices. Although an airline may request that consumers provide certain information voluntarily, consumers cannot be required to provide such information in order to receive an airfare or ancillary product quote. In addition, all of the Department’s regulations regarding carrier and ticket agents’ displays of fares and ancillary products would continue to apply. Parties will have until June 11, 2014 to submit comments in response to the tentative decision at regulations.gov, docket number DOT-OST-2013-0048. Answers to those comments will be due no later than June 20, 2014. # You are subscribed to DOT News for Department of Transportation. This information has recently been updated, and is now available.
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U.S. Department of Transportation Proposes Additional Consumer Protections for Air Travelers
DOT 48-14 U.S. Department of Transportation Proposes Additional Consumer Protections for Air Travelers WASHINGTON – U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx today proposed new consumer protections for air travelers, building on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) previous passenger protection rules issued in December 2009 and April 2011. Today’s proposal would require the disclosure of fees for certain basic airline services such as checked baggage, require more carriers to report their performance data to DOT, and codify the Department’s definition of a ticket agent to ensure that companies that offer flight search tools and receive a form of compensation are adhering to the Department’s consumer protection requirements. “Knowledge is power, and our latest proposal helps ensure consumers have clear and accurate information when choosing among air transportation options,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “The proposal we’re offering today will strengthen the consumer protections we have previously enacted and raise the bar for airlines and ticket agents when it comes to treating travelers fairly.” Under the proposed rule, airlines and ticket agents would be required to disclose fees for certain basic, additional services associated with airline tickets at all points of sale. The proposal defines these services as first checked bag, second checked bag, one carry-on item, and advance seat assignment. Currently, fees for additional services are often difficult to determine when searching for airfares and as a result, many consumers are unable to understand the true cost of travel before purchasing a ticket. The proposed rule would also expand the pool of carriers that would be required to report information to the Department about their on-time performance, oversales, and mishandled baggage rates. The threshold for reporting would move from any carrier that accounts for at least one percent of domestic scheduled passenger revenue to any carrier that accounts for at least 0.5 percent of domestic scheduled passenger revenue, such as Spirit Airlines. Under the proposal, all reporting carriers would also be required to provide similar performance data for their domestic scheduled flights operated by code-share regional partners. The Department will include the operational data provided by all of the airlines in its publicly available Air Travel Consumer Report, allowing consumers to use this information to make better informed decisions regarding air transportation options and motivating airlines to continue to improve service. The Department is also seeking to enhance protections for air travelers by publishing its interpretation of the term “ticket agent” which is used in many laws and regulations. The Department considers distribution systems such as internet search sites that offer a flight search tool, and other such intermediaries, regardless of the manner in which they are compensated for their role in arranging air transportation, to be “ticket agents” for the purposes of the Department’s air transportation consumer protection regulations. Codifying the Department’s interpretation of the term will make clear that those entities must provide consumers with information such as identifying flights operated under a code-sharing arrangement. For example, entities such as Kayak and Google that offer flight search tools with fare, schedule, and availability information would be covered. Other proposals in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would: • Require large travel agents to adopt minimum customer service standards such as responding promptly to customer complaints and providing an option to hold a reservation at the quoted fare without payment, or to cancel without penalty, for 24 hours if the reservation is made one week or more prior to a flight’s departure date; • Require carriers and ticket agents to disclose any code-share arrangements on initial itinerary displays on their websites; and • Prohibit unfair and deceptive practices such as preferentially ranking flights of certain carriers above others without disclosing the bias in any presentation of carrier schedules, fares, rules, or availability. The Department’s two previous comprehensive consumer protection rules have led to better, more fair treatment for the traveling public. Tarmac delays over three hours have been virtually eliminated over the last four years. Passengers are eligible for more compensation when they are involuntarily bumped from an oversold flight. Passengers now see the full fare when they get a quote for air transportation because the Department requires airlines and ticket agents to show a ticket price that includes all mandatory fees and taxes. Also, as a result of these rules, U.S. and foreign airlines have adopted customer service plans that address a variety of issues like providing prompt ticket refunds, offering the lowest fare available, notification of flight delays and providing an option to hold or cancel a reservation without penalty for 24 hours. This proposed rule addresses several additional airline customer service improvements recommended by two Federal advisory committees -- the Future of Aviation Advisory Committee (FAAC) and the Advisory Committee on Aviation Consumer Protection (ACACP). It also fulfills commitments made in the Department’s previous passenger protections rule to addresses the issue of disclosure of ancillary services fee information. Comments on the proposal are due in 90 days. The text of the proposed rule and comments are available on the Internet at www.regulations.gov, docket DOT-OST-2014-0056. To read about the Obama Administration’s previous two unprecedented comprehensive aviation consumer rulemakings that have led to better, more fair treatment for the traveling public, click here. # You are subscribed to DOT News for Department of Transportation. This information has recently been updated, and is now available.
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