§42308 — Title 49 Transportation | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary of Transportation must create and post online dashboards that tell the public about certain extra customer services large airlines offer beyond what federal law requires. One dashboard must show what each airline promises to pay or provide when a delay or cancellation is the airline’s fault. The site must also explain when a delay is not the airline’s fault (for example, bad weather or FAA traffic control), consistent with 14 CFR 234.4. Other dashboards must show which airlines promise to seat a child next to their adult without extra fees, and the typical economy seat pitch, width, and length for each common aircraft type and layout. The Secretary must work with disability experts and agencies to make the dashboards accessible. Airlines must give the Secretary the information needed. The child-seating dashboard ends when the rule in section 516 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 becomes effective. After that rule is effective, no more than four dashboards may be kept. The whole requirement ends on October 1, 2028.

Title 49, §42308

Transportation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of Transportation shall establish, maintain, and make publicly available the following online dashboards for purposes of keeping aviation consumers informed with respect to certain policies of, and services provided by, large air carriers (as such term is defined by the Secretary) to the extent that such policies or services exceed what is required by Federal law:

(1)A dashboard that displays information regarding the services and compensation provided by each large air carrier to mitigate any passenger inconvenience caused by a delay or cancellation due to circumstances in the control of such carrier.

(2)The website on which such dashboard is displayed shall explain the circumstances under which a delay or cancellation is not due to circumstances in the control of the large air carrier (such as a delay or cancellation due to a weather event or an instruction from the Federal Aviation Administration Air Traffic Control System Command Center) consistent with section 234.4 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations.

(3)A dashboard that displays information regarding which large air carriers guarantee that each child shall be seated adjacent to an adult accompanying the child without charging any additional fees.

(4)A dashboard that displays information regarding aircraft seat size for each large air carrier, including the pitch, width, and length of a seat in economy class for the aircraft models and configurations most commonly flown by such carrier.

(5)The requirement in subsection (a)(3) shall cease to be effective on the date on which the rule in section 516 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 is effective.

(b)In developing the dashboards required in subsection (a), the Secretary shall, in order to ensure the dashboards are accessible and contain pertinent information for passengers with disabilities, consult with the Air Carrier Access Act Advisory Committee, the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, any other relevant department or agency to determine appropriate accessibility standards, and disability organizations, including advocacy and nonprofit organizations that represent or provide services to individuals with disabilities.

(c)After the rule required in section 516 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 is effective, the Secretary may not establish or maintain more than 4 different customer service dashboards at any given time.

(d)Each large air carrier shall provide to the Secretary such information as the Secretary requires to carry out this section.

(e)This section shall cease to be effective on October 1, 2028.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 516 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, referred to in subsecs. (a)(5) and (c), is section 516 of Pub. L. 118–63, which is set out as a note preceding section 42301 of this title.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Establishment of Online Dashboards Pub. L. 118–63, title V, § 506(a)(2),

May 16, 2024, 138 Stat. 1193, provided that: “The Secretary [of Transportation] shall establish each of the online dashboards required by section 42308(a) of title 49, United States Code, not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act [

May 16, 2024].”

§42308 DOT airline customer service dashboards