Alaska Accounting and Reporting Directives

Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Alaska Mail Rates
Number 1
Issue Date: July 31, 2003
Effective Date: Immediately

Alaskan Bush Mail Rates And Mail Distribution

We have received several questions on how the Department of Transportation and the U.S. Postal Service will use the T-100 traffic reports and Form 298-C financial statistics to tender mail and set mail rates.

T-100 Reports

T-100 traffic reports are comprised of two types of traffic records - (1) on-flight market records and (2) nonstop segment records. In both reports, carriers report only revenue passengers, freight, and mail - - nonrevenue passengers, freight and intra company mail are excluded. Attached is an excerpt of the regulation that differentiates revenue and nonrevenue services.

On-flight market records consist of where passenger, freight, and mail originate and end their journeys on a particular flight. A flight is defined by the assigned flight number, which is designated by the air carrier. A change in flight number stops one market and starts a new market. The United States Postal Service will use T-100 market data for enplanement and deplanement data from scheduled service flights to tender mail to eligible air carriers.

Excess Baggage

Excess baggage is counted as baggage and is not to be reported as freight, even if carried on a different flight than the passenger, including an all-cargo flight.

Data Available On The Internet

Form 298-C financial information will be used by the Department of Transportation to update the mail rates. T-100 market data and segment data, and Form 298-C cost data are available for review on the internet at www.bts.gov/oai. Please review the data. Questions concerning the data should be sent to bernard.stankus@bts.gov with a copy to marianne.seguin@bts.gov.

Circular Routings

Some carriers' scheduled flights have circular routings. For example, Flight 123 may be scheduled to fly from point A to point B onto points C and D and then back to point A. However, because of weather or other operational events, the carrier may have operated Flight 123 in the reverse direction. Under normal reporting procedures, Flight 123 would have had 4 scheduled departures and 0 scheduled-departures completed, even though 4 departures were in fact completed.

A measure of carrier performance is the percentage of scheduled flights completed. In the above example, the percentage of scheduled flights completed would be 0%. We believe that since the carrier is meeting the community's service needs, we should grant some reporting relief in these instances. Therefore, we will allow the carriers to re-allocate the scheduled departures to the way the flight was actually flown rather than the way the flight was originally scheduled. If Flight 123 was scheduled 30 days in the month, and was operated according to schedule on 22 days, cancelled on 1 day, and operated in the reverse direction on 7 days, the carrier would be allowed to report as flows:

Seven scheduled departures are deducted from the original 30 scheduled departures to account for the seven days that Flight 123 was operated in the reverse direction. Then the reverse routing flights are added to the carrier's flight schedule.

Late Reporting

The U.S. Postal Service wishes to align mail tender to actual air carrier performance in the individual markets. To accomplish this, carriers must be current in their reporting to BTS. Late-reporting carriers run the risk of being taken out of mail tender or receiving less mail than what would have been their full share of mail if the reports were timely filed. The T-100 traffic reports are due at BTS 30 days after the applicable month; the quarterly Form 298-C financial reports are due 40 days after the applicable quarter. Carriers may submit these reports by email to t100.support@bts.gov and 298c.support@bts.gov, respectively. Also, BTS has the right to reject carrier submissions for data accuracy deficiencies.

Carriers are required to have their June 2003 T-100 traffic data to BTS by July 30, 2003. BTS will process the data and post it on our web page at http://www.bts.gov/oai/. The data should be posted by September 1, 2003. T-100 submissions received after August 7, 2003, will run the risk of not being included in the posted data, although BTS will accept revisions to timely filed data beyond August 7, 2003. Once the data are on the web, carriers will have 2 weeks to review their and their competitors' data and contact BTS concerning questionable data. Please use the t100.support@bts.gov or 298c.support@bts.gov email addresses to question traffic or the financial data.

The U.S. Postal Service anticipates making quarterly updates to mail tender under the same time schedule stated above. Carriers have a 7-day grace period to file T-100 data, although reports received after the due date are still regarded as late filed. BTS will process the data and post it on the web by the first of the next month, and carriers will have 2 weeks to challenge posted data.

Please e-mail any questions you have to Bernie Stankus at bernard.stankus@bts.gov or contact him by telephone on (202) 366-4387.

This action is taken under authority delegated in 14 CFR Part 385.19(b) of the Department's Organizational Regulations.

Donald W. Bright
Assistant Director
Airline Information

Attachment

Revenue Passenger means a passenger for whose transportation an air carrier receives commercial remuneration. This includes, but is not limited to the following examples:

1. Passengers traveling on publicly available tickets;
2. passengers traveling on frequent flyer awards;
3. passengers traveling on barter tickets;
4. infants traveling on confirmed-space tickets;
5. passengers traveling on vouchers as compensation for denied boarding or passengers traveling free in response to consumer complaints or claims; and
6. passengers traveling on preferential fares (Government, seamen, military, youth, student, etc.).

This list is not exhaustive and is provided for illustrative purposes only.

Nonrevenue Passenger means a person traveling free or under token charges, except those expressly named in the definition of revenue passenger. The definition includes, but is not limited to the following examples:

1. Directors, officers, employees, and others authorized by the air carrier operating the aircraft;
2. an infant that does not occupy a seat
3. directors, officers, employees, and others authorized by the air carrier or another air carrier traveling pursuant to a pass interchange agreement;
4. travel agents being transported for the purpose of familiarizing themselves with the carrier's services;
5. witnesses and attorneys attending any legal investigation in which such carrier is involved;
6. persons injured in aircraft accidents, and physicians, nurses, and others attending such persons;
7. any persons transported with the object of providing relief in cases of general epidemic, natural disaster, or other catastrophe;
8. any law enforcement official, including any person who has the duty of guarding government officials who are traveling on official business or traveling to or from such duty;
9. guests of an air carrier on an inaugural flight or delivery flights of newly-acquired or renovated aircraft;
10. security guards who have been assigned the duty to guard such aircraft against unlawful seizure, sabotage, or other unlawful interference;
11. safety inspectors of the National Transportation Safety Board or the FAA in their official duties or traveling to or from such duty;
12. postal employees on duty in charge of the mails or traveling to or from such duty;
13. technical representatives of companies that have been engaged in the manufacture, development or testing of a particular type of aircraft or aircraft equipment, when the transportation is provided for the purpose of in-flight observation and subject to applicable FAA regulations;
14. persons engaged in promoting air transportation;
15. air marshals and other Transportation Security officials acting in their official capacities and while traveling to and from their official duties; and
16. other authorized persons, when such transportation is undertaken for promotional purpose.

This list is not exhaustive and is provided for illustrative purposes only.