Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request, 67861-67862 [2012-27618]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 220 (Wednesday, November 14, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67861-67862]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-27618]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Docket No. DOT-OST-2012-0183]


Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments; correction.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information 
Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below is being forwarded to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comments. The 
Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting 
comments on the following information collection was published on 
August 6, 2012 (75 FR 46789). No comments were received.
    Correction: The notice in the August 6, 2012 Federal Register [77 
FR 46789] requested comments on the Agency's Renewal of a Previously 
Approved Information Collection: Disclosure of Change-of-Gauge 
Services. The approval for the Information Collection, abstracted 
below, expired on August 31, 2012 during the 60-day comment period. 
Therefore, the Agency is now requesting Reinstatement of a Previously 
Approved Collection: Disclosure of Change-of-Gauge Services.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before December 14, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments on any or all of the following 
proposed activities, including the burden estimate and suggestions for 
reducing the burden, to the Office of Management and Budget, Attention: 
Desk Officer for the Department of Transportation, Office of the 
Secretary, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503.
    Comments are invited on: whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Department, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; the accuracy of the Department's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed information collection; ways to enhance the quality, utility 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including 
the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara Snoden, Office of the 
Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs, Office of 
the Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-4834.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    OMB Control Number: 2105-0538.
    Title: Disclosure of Code Sharing Arrangements and Long-Term Wet 
Leases.
    Type of Review: Reinstatement of a previously approved information 
collection.
    Abstract: Change-of-gauge service is scheduled passenger air 
transportation for which the operating carrier uses one single flight 
number even though passengers do not travel in the same aircraft from 
origin to destination but must change planes at an intermediate stop. 
In addition to one-flight-to-one-flight change-of-gauge services, 
change-of-gauge services can also involve aircraft changes between 
multiple flights on one side of the change point and one single flight 
on the other side. As with one-for-one change-of-gauge services, the 
carrier assigns a single flight number for the passenger's entire 
itinerary even though the passenger changes planes, but in addition, 
the single flight to or from the exchange point itself has multiple 
numbers, one for each segment with which it connects and one for the 
local market in which it operates.
    The Department recognizes various public benefits that can flow 
from change-of-gauge services, such as a lowered likelihood of missed 
connections. However, although change-of-gauge flights can offer 
valuable consumer benefits, they can be confusing and misleading unless 
consumers are given reasonable and timely notice that they will be 
required to change planes during their journey.
    Section 41712 of Title 49 of the U.S. code authorizes the 
Department to decide if a U.S. air carrier or foreign air carrier or 
ticket agent (including travel agents) has engaged in unfair or 
deceptive practices. Under this authority, the Department has adopted 
various regulations and policies to prevent unfair or deceptive 
practices or unfair methods of competition. The Department requires as 
a matter of policy that customers be given notice of aircraft changes 
for change-of-gauge flights. (See Department Order 89-1-31, page 5.) 
The Department proposed to adopt the extant regulations, however, 
because it was not convinced that these rules and policies resulted in 
effective disclosure all of the time.
    Respondents: All U.S. air carriers, foreign air carriers, computer 
reservations systems (CRSs), and travel agents doing business in the 
United States, and the traveling public.
    Number of Respondents: 16,000, excluding travelers.
    Frequency: At 15 seconds per call and an average of 1.5 calls per 
trip, a total of 22.5 seconds per respondent or traveler, for the 
approximately 33% of estimated change-of-gauge itineraries that involve 
personal contact.
    Total Annual Burden: Annual reporting burden for this data 
collection is estimated at 76,313 hours for all travel agents and 
airline ticket agents, based on 15 seconds per phone call and an 
average of 1.5 phone calls per trip, for the approximately 33% of 
estimated change-of-gauge itineraries that involve personal contact. 
Most of this data

[[Page 67862]]

collection (third party notification) is accomplished through highly 
automated computerized systems.

    Authority:  The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1:48.

    Issued in Washington, DC on November 7, 2012.
Claire Barrett,
Chief Privacy & Information Asset Officer, U.S. Department of 
Transportation.
[FR Doc. 2012-27618 Filed 11-13-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P