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OMB Control No: 2105-0537	ICR Reference No: 201112-2105-001
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 200810-2105-004
Agency/Subagency: DOT/OST	Agency Tracking No: 2105-0537
Title: Disclosure of Code Sharing Arrangements and Long-Term Wet Leases
Type of Information Collection: Extension without change of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved with change	Conclusion Date: 08/07/2012
	Date Received in OIRA: 02/29/2012
Terms of Clearance:

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	08/31/2015	36 Months From Approved	08/31/2012
Responses	317,000,000	0	317,000,000
Time Burden (Hours)	1,306,366	0	1,306,366
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Abstract: Codesharing is the name given to a common airline industry marketing practice where, by mutual agreement between cooperating carriers, at least one of the airline designator codes used on a flight is different from that of the airline operating the aircraft. In one version, two or more airlines each use their own designator codes on the same aircraft operation. Although only one airline operates the flight, each airline in a codesharing arrangement may hold out, market, and sell the flight as its own in published schedules. Codesharing also refers to other arrangements, such as when a code on a passenger's ticket is not that of the operator of the flight, but where the operator does not also hold out the service in its own name. Such codesharing arrangements are common between commuter air carriers and their larger affiliates, and the number of arrangements between U.S. air carriers and foreign air carriers has also been increasing. Arrangements falling into this category are similar to leases of aircraft with crew (wet leases). The Department recognizes the strong preference of air travelers for on-line service (service by a single carrier) on connecting flights over interline service (service by multiple carriers). Codesharing arrangements are, in part, a marketing response to this demand for on-line service. Often, codesharing partners offer services similar to those available for on-line connections with the goal of offering ''seamless'' service (i.e., service where the transfers from flight to flight or airline to airline are facilitated). For example, they may locate gates near each other to make connections more convenient or coordinate baggage handling to give greater assurance that baggage will be properly handled. Codesharing arrangements can help airlines operate more efficiently because they can reduce costs by providing a joint service with one aircraft rather than operating separate services with two aircraft. Particularly in thin markets, this efficiency can lead to increased price and service options for consumers or enable the use of equipment sized appropriately for the market. Therefore, the Department recognizes that codesharing, as well as long-term wet leases, can offer significant economic benefits. Although codesharing and wet-lease arrangements can offer significant consumer benefits, they can also be misleading unless consumers know that the transportation they are considering for purchase will not be provided by the airline whose designator code is shown on the ticket, schedule, or itinerary and unless they know the identity of the airline on which they will be flying. The growth in the use of codesharing, wetleasing, and similar marketing tools, particularly in international air transportation, had given the Department concern about whether the then-current disclosure rules (14 CFR 399.88) protected the public interest adequately and led the Department to adopt specific regulations requiring the disclosure of code-sharing arrangements and long-term wet leases on March 15, 1999. (14 CFR part 257) These regulations required U.S. airlines, foreign airlines and travel agents doing business in the United States, to notify passengers of the existence of code-sharing or long-term wet lease arrangements. It also required U.S. airlines, foreign airlines and travel agents to tell prospective consumers, in all oral communications before booking transportation, that the transporting airline is not the airline whose designator code will appear on travel documents and identify the transporting airline by its corporate name and any other name under which that service is held out to the public.

Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 49 USC 41712 Name of Law: Unfair and deceptive practices and unfair methods of competition

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
	Not associated with rulemaking

Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	76 FR 57795	09/16/2011
30-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	73 FR 55587	09/25/2008
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

Number of Information Collection (IC) in this ICR: 1

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
Disclosure of Code Sharing Arrangements and Long-Term Wet Leases

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved
Annual Number of Responses	317,000,000	317,000,000
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	1,306,366	1,306,366
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Increase Due to:

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: The program reporting requirements have not changed since the previous request for Extension of a Previously Approved Collection submitted in 2005. Although, an adjustment has been made to the Information Collection Request while the number of affected tickets has increased, the estimated number of respondents has decreased. Both changes reflect the changing nature of the passenger airline industry: increased use of Internet booking sites, decreased numbers of and commissions paid to travel agents, increased numbers of air travel journeys, and increased number of codesharing agreements and global airline alliance participation. Although the total hour burden has increased, we estimate that the average cost per ticket, for both airlines and travel agencies, has decreased from $0.56 to $0.38 per ticket. This decrease reflects efficiencies inherent in industry practice changes.

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $0

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Is the Supporting Statement intended to be a Privacy Impact Assessment required by the E-Government Act of 2002? No

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? Uncollected

Agency Contact: Aleta Best 2024930797 Aleta.Best@dot.gov

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