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The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs carries a broad portfolio of responsibilities covering domestic and international aviation, international trade, and a range of other international cooperation and facilitation issues. The Office of Aviation and International Affairs includes two principal jurisdictions: domestic and international aviation. The Office contributes directly to accomplishing DOT's strategic goal of economic growth and trade, and advances America's economic growth and competitiveness domestically and internationally through efficient and flexible transportation. Led by Acting Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs Michael W. Reynolds, the Office develops and coordinates Departmental policies in a wide spectrum of domestic and international aviation issues.
The Office of Aviation and International Affairs has three primary goals:
1. liberalizing international air services by seeking market liberalization;
2. ensuring the benefits of a deregulated, competitive domestic airline industry; and
3. developing policies to improve air service and/or access to the commercial aviation system for small and rural communities.
The Office of Aviation and International Affairs, a branch of the Office of the Secretary, was formally chartered in 1993, when the Department of Transportation separated aviation and international trade from other transportation policy issues.
How We Are Organized
As a policy advisor to the Secretary, the Assistant Secretary for Aviation works in close coordination with the Deputy Secretary, the Undersecretary for Policy, secretarial officers, heads of operating administrations, and Director of RITA. The responsibilities assigned by statute to the operating administrations and RITA are unaffected by the mission of this office. The Assistant Secretary for Aviation is responsible to the Secretary for analysis, development, articulation, and review of policies and plans for economic issues in domestic and international transportation. The Assistant Secretary exercises executive direction over the following Offices:
What We Do
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Provides Departmental leadership for and develops, coordinates, and carries out public policy related to the airline industry.
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Formulates, coordinates, and carries out departmental international civil aviation transportation policy, and works with the Department of State in negotiating bilateral and multilateral international aviation matters.
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Administers the laws and regulations governing U. S. and foreign carrier economic authority to engage in air transportation. Renders decisions in all aviation economic regulatory matters that are instituted by the Department.
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Conducts special projects and analyses as requested by the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, or Undersecretary for Policy.
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Administers regulatory programs for small community transportation, including the Essential Air Service Program and the Small Community Air Service Development Pilot Program.
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Develops, coordinates, and carries out public policy and regulatory actions with respect to the establishment of mail rates within Alaska and in international market.
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Develops, coordinates, and carries out public policy and certain regulatory actions with respect to access at U.S. airports.
THE OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTATION AND TRADE
The Office plays a key role in providing Departmental leadership, direction, and coordination on international surface and intermodal transportation and trade policies and programs, including trade facilitation, technical assistance and cooperation programs, trade promotion and advocacy, multimodal transportation issues, and international diplomatic and protocol activities; to lead and coordinate Departmental representation in global transportation and trade organization.
Roles and Responsibilities:
The Office develops the Department’s positions on transport aspects of international trade agreements in consultation with modal administrations and leads Departmental representation in key international organizations and facilitates the success of the Secretary’s international travel agenda and meetings with foreign visitors.
THE OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AVIATION
The Office plays a lead role in international aviation negotiations, originating aviation-negotiating positions with respect to foreign countries and coordinating negotiating policy, strategy and positions with the Department of State and other agencies and with the U.S. aviation industry. Office of International Aviation negotiators and their State Department colleagues meet with foreign counterparts to forge new agreements and resolve problems that occasionally may arise under existing relationships. The Office also has complementary economic regulatory authority, licensing U.S. air carrier services to foreign markets and foreign air carrier services to the United States. The Office also exercises regulatory oversight of aviation pricing issues.
Roles and Responsibilities
The Office of International Aviation is responsible for formulating, coordinating and executing the international aviation policy of United States and for administering the economic regulatory functions related to foreign air transportation. These activities are required by U.S. aviation statutes.* and by the roughly 100 bilateral and multilateral aviation agreements to which the United States is a party. The Office of International Aviation originates U.S. aviation negotiating positions with respect to foreign countries; coordinates negotiating policy, strategy and positions with the Department of State and other agencies and with the U.S. air transportation industry as required by law; and conducts or participates in those negotiations. The Office also receives both formal and informal complaints from U.S. carriers experiencing difficulties in foreign markets and intervenes to resolve those problems.
On
the regulatory side, the Office receives, processes, and decides or
recommends the disposition of all U.S. and foreign air carrier requests
for economic authority to operate between the United States and foreign
points. It also determines
the disposition of all tariff filings and pricing agreements by U.S.
and foreign airlines. The
Office administers (and is responsible for reviewing and revising
as needed) some twenty Parts of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Where unfair foreign practices harm U.S. aviation
interests, and negotiated solutions cannot be achieved, the Office's
regulatory staff applies economic sanctions. The Department’s effectiveness in resolving disputes and achieving
other U.S. aviation objectives depends on close, continuous coordination
of the negotiating and regulatory activities of the Office of International
Aviation.
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*In July 1994, The Federal Aviation Act and the International Air
Transportation Fair Competitive Practices Act (IATFCPA) were superseded
by a unified, recodified transportation statute, Title 49 of the U.S.
Code, Subtitle VII ("Aviation Programs")
THE OFFICE OF AVIATION ANALYSIS
The Office of Aviation Analysis initiates and supports the development of the Department of Transportation's public policies regarding economic oversight of the airline industry in both domestic and international markets. The Office also has the responsibility to analyze and support the Department's decision makers on major airline issues, including airline mergers and acquisitions, domestic and international code-share alliances and other joint venture agreements, immunized international alliances between U.S. and foreign carriers, and airline distribution practices. In addition, the Office administers important aviation regulatory programs for the fitness of commercial airlines, air service to small communities, access to slot-controlled airports, and the setting of mail rates within Alaska and in international markets.
Roles and Responsibilities
The Office of Aviation Analysis has three major interrelated roles and responsibilities--analytical, advisory, and regulatory.
The Office of Aviation Analysis serves as an independent source of analytical input to the Department's aviation and international affairs policy-making function. On a continuing basis, the Office analyzes air carrier costs, fares, service, traffic, capacity, and financial information from sources within the department as well as other outside sources to develop analytically based medium-to-long-term views of the U.S. airline industry's operating and competitive structures. The Office also develops short-term analyses on domestic and international issues affecting the industry; airline mergers and alliances; antitrust immunity cases involving U.S. and foreign airlines; anticompetitive behavior; airline distribution practices; public impact of airline strikes; and route analyses of U.S. carrier applications for international route authority. These analyses serve as the basis for developing Department policies with respect to domestic and international airline competition. They also facilitate the development of broader range studies of the airline industry, which are provided not only in relation to the Department's policy-making responsibilities, but also for the public to improve their understanding and access to information regarding the airline industry.
The Office of Aviation Analysis is the primary advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs and the Secretary on aviation economic issues. The advisory function encompasses recommendations with respect to specific regulatory cases before the Department, as well as the development of Department policy on domestic and international economic air transport issues. The Office's analytical function provides critical support to these responsibilities through fact-based analyses.
On the regulatory side, the Office of Aviation Analysis administers several critical aviation regulatory programs, including the Essential Air Service program which provides subsidy to air carriers for service to certain small communities; the Small Community Air Service Development Pilot Program which provides federal grants to small communities (including those in the EAS program) to address air service and airfare issues; and the Air Carrier Fitness Program which is responsible for licensing new entrant airlines and monitoring the continuing fitness of all U.S. passenger and cargo airlines to serve the public. In addition, the Office administers certain slot exemption services at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and sets mail rates for intra-Alaska and international services.
The air transport industry is a key driver of economic growth with a global economic impact of $1.7 trillion, including over 30 million jobs. The actions of the airline industry, therefore, have a direct impact on the public both here and abroad and are watched closely by Congress, the courts, foreign countries and consumers.