Served August 31, 1995
ORDER
Agreement Among Member Carriers of the | INTERNATIONAL AIR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION | Docket 49962 R-1 through R-71 concerning passenger services matters |
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has filed an agreement with the Department for approval and exemption from antitrust laws under sections 41309 and 41308 of Title 49 of the United States Code. The agreement was adopted at the Sixteenth Passenger Services Conference held in Phoenix during October 18-20, 1994.[1]
The agreement consists of numerous resolutions and recommended practices (R.P.'s) affecting passenger services.[2] They address procedures governing inadmissible passengers and deportees; codes, notices, formats and procedures relating to the issuance of tickets, boarding passes and other travel documents; processing refunds; baggage handling procedures and tag specifications; location identifiers; assignment of airline code numbers; standard interline agreements and reservation procedures; and the treatment of blacklisted documents. These proposals involve non-substantive changes, essentially of a technical, editorial or administrative nature, to existing approved resolutions and recommended practices, and appear to be in conformity with our substantive policies and concerns. As such, they raise no public interest issues, and will be approved.
The agreement also adopts revised language for Resolutions 780 and 780e, which deal with standard IATA interline agreements, to address concerns raised by the Department in Order 93-9-24, September 23, 1993, where it disapproved certain procedures relating to baggage excess value declarations and claim settlements (R-43 and R-44). These changes satisfy the major concerns raised in that order and will be approved.
Last, new provisions established by the agreement include: a) R.P. 1707a setting forth standards and definitions for all elements used in baggage service messages between carriers (R-48); b) R.P. 1719b facilitating the exchange and updating of information on passengers obtained by handling agents during the check-in process (R-56); c) R.P. 1723, replacing R.P. 1790 which is canceled, containing specifications for a standard ATB boarding pass wallet (R-60); and d) R.P.s 1797b and 1797c establishing guidelines and formats for the exchange of messages concerning baggage and passengers between carriers and their agents, on the one hand, and automated baggage systems or airport authorities, on the other (R-70 and R-71).
Section 41309 of the Code directs us to approve any agreement or modification of an agreement if we find that it will not substantially lessen competition, and is not adverse to the public interest or in violation of the Act. We find that the agreement in Docket 49962 is not adverse to the public interest, in violation of the Act, or likely to lessen competition substantially, and that it should be approved.
Furthermore, we conclude that the approved agreement should be granted immunity from the operation of the antitrust laws to the extent necessary to permit its implementation. In general, the agreement amends existing provisions already approved and immunized by the Department. Where new provisions are created, they perform administrative and facilitatory functions similar to other resolutions that have been approved and immunized. As a result, none raises immunity issues not previously considered, and the conferral of immunity upon them is consistent with our policy of conferring immunity on amendments coextensively with the underlying agreements.
Pursuant to the authority duly assigned under the Department's Regulations 14 CFR 385.13:
We do not find that Resolutions R-1 through R-71 of the agreement in Docket 49962, as set forth in the attached Appendix, are adverse to the public interest, in violation of the Act, or likely to lessen competition substantially.
ACCORDINGLY,
This order shall be effective and become the action of the Department of Transportation upon expiration of the above period, unless within such period a petition for review is filed or the Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs gives notice that he will review this order on his own motion.
By:
Paul L. Gretch
Director, Office of International Aviation
(SEAL)
Docket IATA Expiry
49962 Designation IATA Resolution Title Date
R-1 PSC(16)003 Standard Rescission Resolution 6/1/1996
R-2 PSC(16)701 Inadmissible Passenger and Indefinite
Deportees (Amending)
R-3 PSC(16)720 Passenger Ticket and Baggage Indefinite
Check--Technical Specifications
(Amending)
R-4 PSC(16)720a Passenger Ticket and Baggage Indefinite
Check - Issuance and Honoring
Procedures (Amending)
R-5 PSC(16)720b Carbonized Traffic Documents- Indefinite
Technical Specifications
(Amending)
R-6 PSC(16)721 Bank Settlement Plan Passenger Indefinite
Ticket and Baggage Check--
Technical Specifications
(Amending)
R-7 PSC(16)722 Transitional Automated Ticket Indefinite
(Amending)
R-8 PSC(16)722a Off Premise Transitional Indefinite
Automated Ticket (OPTAT)
(Amending)
R-9 PSC(16)722c Automated Ticket/Boarding Pass Indefinite
--Version 2 (ATB2) (Amending)
R-10 PSC(16)722d Off Premise Automated Ticket/ Indefinite
Boarding Pass--Version 2
(OPATB2) (Amending)
R-11 PSC(16)722e Automated Ticket/Boarding Pass Indefinite
(ATB) and Multiple Purpose
Document (MPD), Coupon-by-
Coupon Technical Specification
(Amending)
R-12 PSC(16)724 Passenger Ticket--Notices and Indefinite
Conditions of Contract
(Amending)
R-13 PSC(16)725 Miscellaneous Charges Order Indefinite
(MCO)--Technical Specifications
(Amending)
R-14 PSC(16)725b Miscellaneous Charges Order Indefinite
(MCO)--Issuance and Honoring
Procedures (Amending)
R-15 PSC(16)725c Automated Miscellaneous Indefinite
Charges Order (MCO), Carrier
(Coupon-by-Coupon) (Amending)
R-16 PSC(16)725d Automated Miscellaneous Indefinite
Charges Order (MCO), Neutral
(Coupon-by-Coupon) (Amending)
R-17 PSC(16)726 Multiple Purpose Document (MPD) Indefinite
(Amending)
R-18 PSC(16)726a Multiple Purpose Document Indefinite
(MPD)--Carrier, Carbonized,
Automated (Amending)
R-19 PSC(16)726b Multiple Purpose Document Indefinite
(MPD)--Neutral, Carbonized,
Automated (Amending)
R-20 PSC(16)727 Tickets-Alterations to Flight Indefinite
Coupons (Amending)
R-21 PSC(16)728 Code Designator for Passenger Indefinite
Ticket and Baggage Check
(Amending)
R-22 PSC(16)731 Prepaid Ticket Advice (PTA) Indefinite
(Amending)
R-23 PSC(16)731a Automated Prepaid Ticket Advice Indefinite
(PTA), Carrier Coupon-by-
Coupon (Amending)
R-24 PSC(16)731b Automated Prepaid Ticket Advice Indefinite
(PTA), Neutral Coupon-by-
Coupon (Amending)
R-25 PSC(16)734a Automated Tour Order, Neutral Indefinite
(Coupon-by-Coupon) (Amending)
R-26 PSC(16)735a Extension of Ticket Validity Indefinite
(Amending)
R-27 PSC(16)735d Involuntary Change of Carrier, Indefinite
Routing, Class or Type of Fare
(Amending)
R-28 PSC(16)735e Procedures for Involuntary Indefinite
Change of Routing En Route
(Amending)
R-29 PSC(16)736 Voluntary Changes to Tickets Indefinite
(Amending)
R-30 PSC(16)737 Refunds (Amending) Indefinite
R-31 PSC(16)738 Agents Refund Voucher Indefinite
(Amending)
R-32 PSC(16)738a Automated Agents Refund Indefinite
Voucher, Neutral-Coupon-
by-Coupon (Amending)
R-33 PSC(16)740 Form of Interline Baggage Tag Indefinite
(Amending)
R-34 PSC(16)742 Excess Baggage Ticket-- Indefinite
Technical Specifications
(Amending)
R-35 PSC(16)742d United States Government Excess Indefinite
Baggage Authorization/ticket
(GEBAT) (Amending)
R-36 PSC(16)742e Automated Excess Baggage Indefinite
Ticket, Carrier Coupon-by-
Coupon (Amending)
R-37 PSC(16)742f Automated Excess Baggage Indefinite
Ticket, Neutral Coupon-by-
Coupon (Amending)
R-38 PSC(16)743 Found and Unclaimed Checked Indefinite
Baggage (Amending)
R-39 PSC(16)743a Forwarding Mishandled Baggage Indefinite
(Amending)
R-40 PSC(16)763 Resolution 763 Location Indefinite
Identifiers (Amending)
R-41 PSC(16)766 Resolution 766 Interline Indefinite
Passenger Reservations
Procedure (Amending)
R-42 PSC(16)767 Assignment of Airline Code Indefinite
Numbers (Amending)
R-43 PSC(16)780 Form of Interline Traffic Indefinite
Agreement--Passenger (Amending)
R-44 PSC(16)780e IATA Interline Traffic Indefinite
Participation Agreement--
Passenger (Amending)
R-45 PSC(16)781 Blacklisted Documents Indefinite
(Amending)
R-46 PSC(16)1008 Glossary of Commonly Used Air
Passenger Terms (Amending)
R-47 PSC(16)1704 Office Function Designators for
Passenger and Baggage Handling
(Amending)
R-48 PSC(16)1707a Baggage Service Messages, Data
Element Dictionary (New)
R-49 PSC(16)1708 Passenger Name List Message
(PNL)/Additions and Deletions List
(ADL) (Amending)
R-50 PSC(16)1718 Passenger Transfer Message (PTM)
(Amending)
R-51 PSC(16)1718a Baggage Transfer Message (BTM)
(Amending)
R-52 PSC(16)1718b Baggage Source Message (BSM)
(Amending)
R-53 PSC(16)1718c Baggage Loading and Unloading
Messages (Amending)
R-54 PSC(16)1719 Passenger Final Sales (Post-
Departure Reconciliation) Message
(PFS) (Amending)
R-55 PSC(16)1719a Passenger Traveler List (FTL)
Message (Amending)
R-56 PSC(16)1719b Passenger Reconcile Message (New)
R-57 PSC(16)1720a Standard Specifications for
Optical Scanning of Document
Numbers for Automated Documents
(Amending)
R-58 PSC(16)1722c Automated Ticket/Boarding Pass,
Version 1 (ATB1) (Amending)
R-59 PSC(16)1722e ATB2 Quality Self-Monitoring (New)
R-60 PSC(16)1723 Standard ATB Boarding Pass
Wallet (New)
R-61 PSC(16)1740b License Plate Fallback Sortation
Tag (Amending)
R-62 PSC(16)1740d Read and Sortation Rate in Baggage
Handling Systems (Amending)
R-63 PSC(16)1743a Tracing Procedure for Missing
Checked Baggage (Amending)
R-64 PSC(16)1743f Baggage Mishandling Cost Report
(Amending)
R-65 PSC(16)1751 Interline Baggage Claim (Amending)
R-66 PSC(16)1780 Profiles of Interline Baggage
Claims (Amending)
R-67 PSC(16)1788 Ticketing and Baggage Regulations
for Free and Reduced Transportation
(Amending)
R-68 PSC(16)1791b Standardized Format for Financial
Transaction Messages (Amending)
R-69 PSC(16)1792 Standards Irregularity Notice
(Amending)
R-70 PSC(16)1797b Baggage System Interface (BSI) (New)
(Amending)
R-71 PSC(16)1797c Management Information Systems
Interface (New)
[2] The individual resolutions and recommended practices are listed in the attached Appendix, along with their subject matter.