[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 77 (Friday, April 21, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19981-19982]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-9945]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
[Docket No. 50295]
Exemption for Government Aircraft Owners and Operators
AGENCY: Department of Transportation, Office of the Secretary.
ACTION: Notice of Order.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation issued Order 95-4-28 on April
17, 1995, granting an exemption from the requirements of 49 U.S.C.
41102 to the extent necessary to allow all owners and operators of
government aircraft to provide not-for-hire, cost-reimbursable
transportation incidental to official government business. This order
was issued pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 40113.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia L. Thomas, Chief, Air Carrier
Fitness Division, X-56, Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-9721.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following is the Department's Order 95-
4-28, dated April 17, 1995.
Dated: April 17, 1995.
Patrick V. Murphy,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs.
In the matter of Government Aircraft Owners and Operators
exemption from 49 U.S.C. 41102.
Order Granting Exemption
Recent amendments to section 40102 of Title 49 of the United
States Code require that certain aircraft owned by or operated for
government entities now comply with additional safety-related air
carrier certification and operating regulations of the Federal
Aviation Administration (``FAA'').1 Those FAA regulations
require, among other things, that such operators also obtain any
applicable air carrier economic authority under 49 U.S.C.
41102.2 Confusion among some government aircraft owners and
operators has arisen concerning the effect on them, if any, of the
statutory amendments on [[Page 19982]] whether they need to obtain
economic operating authority under 49 U.S.C. 41102.
\1\Those amendments--which are contained in the Independent
Safety Board Act of 1994, Pub. L. 103-411--relate to safety only and
make no changes to the Department's statutory authority or rules
relating to the economic regulation of air carriers.
\2\See, e.g., 14 CFR 135.13(a)(3).
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The Department has long held that economic authority need not be
obtained by operators of aircraft owned by or being exclusively
operated for government entities so long as those aircraft are not
used to engage in common carriage operations.3 The Department
has also held that economic authority is not required in cases where
a government aircraft owner or operator receives, on a limited
basis, reimbursement for transportation of non-official passengers
incidental to official government business.4 In such cases, the
government aircraft owner or operator may not receive more than a
pro-rata reimbursement of its expenses, or, if required by law, the
commercial equivalent fare. Examples of situations in which such
reimbursement would be permitted--or required--include
transportation of a spouse of a government employee on official
business5 and transportation of members of the media
accompanying the President on government aircraft.
\3\See, e.g., Order 92-2-8 (issued February 7, 1992) and Order
74-2-34 (issued February 11, 1974).
\4\Id.
\5\In such cases, at least some federal agencies, including the
Department of Transportation, require reimbursement equivalent to
the full coach commercial fare.
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The amendments to 49 U.S.C. 40102 are entirely safety-related
and have no effect on the Department's economic licensing
requirements, including fitness determinations made under 49 U.S.C.
41102. Imposing an economic licensing requirement where none is
needed would impose an unwarranted burden on government aircraft
owners and operators.
In order to avoid any confusion over the matter, we have decided
that it is in the public interest to grant an exemption from the
requirements of 49 U.S.C. 41102 to the extent necessary to allow all
government owners and operators of aircraft to provide not-for-hire,
cost-reimbursable transportation incidental to official government
business.
Accordingly,
1. We grant an exemption from the requirements of 49 U.S.C.
41102 to the extent necessary to allow all owners and operators of
government aircraft to provide not-for-hire, cost-reimbursable
transportation incidental to official government business.
2. This order may be amended, modified, or revoked at any time,
without hearing, in the discretion of the Department.
3. This order will be effective immediately, and the filing of a
petition for reconsideration shall not preclude such effectiveness.
4. This order shall be published in the Federal Register.
Patrick V. Murphy,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 95-9945 Filed 4-20-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-62-P
