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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 83 / Monday, May 3, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
7. Status Announcements
DOT Response: After carefully considering the comments submitted, the Department has decided to retain a scaled-down status notification requirement in the final rule, rather than eliminating the requirement entirely as proposed in the NPRM. Under the final rule, each covered carrier is required to notify passengers once regarding the status of the delay when the tarmac delay exceeds 30 minutes. The rule clarifies that each covered carrier may provide subsequent updates, including flight status changes and additional information beyond the requirements of the rule, as the carrier deems appropriate. The Department believes that carriers should, at a minimum, provide basic information about the status of a delay when passengers have been on board a delayed aircraft for over 30 minutes, and the status notification requirement in this rule enables passengers to receive that minimum information. Such a notification may have the effect of setting passenger expectations for the length of the delay, and may help to mitigate passenger concerns or complaints. The Department expects that carriers will continue to notify passengers regarding changes in the status of the delay as changes occur, and the Department encourages them to do so. However, the Department no longer requires that carriers provide regular status notifications every 30 minutes. In the NPRM, the Department noted that regular status notifications may serve limited value to consumers if no new information is available, particularly during overnight delays when passengers may prefer to remain uninterrupted. Accordingly, the Department believes that carriers are in the best position to determine what information will be most useful and least disruptive to passengers in each situation.

The NPRM: The Department proposed to eliminate the requirement that carriers provide notifications regarding the status and cause of the delay every 30 minutes to passengers on board an aircraft.
Comments: Most comments were in favor of the proposal. FlyersRights disagreed with the proposed elimination of the status announcements and suggested that passengers on board a plane be informed of changes in the status or cause of the delay. Air New Zealand expressed the view that it would be more appropriate to provide passenger announcements when new information becomes available or where there is information specific to a change in circumstances.

8. Deplaning Announcements The NPRM: The Department proposed to change carrier obligations with respect to notifying passengers when they have an opportunity to deplane.
Prior to this final rule, carriers were required to notify passengers that they have the opportunity to deplane an aircraft if the opportunity to deplane exists. The first notification was required beginning 30 minutes after the scheduled departure time, and another notification needed to be made every 30
minutes thereafter while the opportunity to deplane existed. The Department proposed to eliminate the carriers obligation to provide additional notifications every 30 minutes, thereby reducing the burden on carrier staff,
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and they asked that the certification statement accompanying the report be qualified to certify to the accuracy of the report at the time the report is submitted. IATA and A4A expressed their view that the Department should rely on a carriers narrative report to the exclusion of other evidence that the Department would otherwise seek from carriers during the course of a tarmac delay investigation.
DOT Response: After reviewing the comments, the Department has decided to adopt the proposal in the final rule, with slight revisions to address carrier concerns regarding the certification statement. The Department has decided to maintain a 30-day time frame for this narrative reporting requirement because this aligns with the narrative reporting requirement for U.S. carriers under 49
U.S.C. 42301h. Because the final rule permits U.S. carriers to fulfill their section 42301h reporting obligation under this regulation, the time frame for the narrative reporting requirement under this rule is consistent with that set by the statute.
The Department has considered carriers concerns that carrier staff may be uncomfortable with certifying to the accuracy of a report when new information may be learned following the submission of a report. This final rule modifies the certification language by clarifying that, to the submitters knowledge and belief, the submitted report is true and correct based on information available at the time of this reports submission. The Department expects that carriers will supplement their reports with the Department and submit additional information or materials, including any corrections to the previously submitted reports, as soon as new information becomes known.

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while maintaining passengers access to information. Under the proposal, carriers would be obligated to make a notification when an opportunity to deplane exists and each time such an opportunity recurs, if, for example, an aircraft returns to the gate after taxiing.
Comments: Commenters unanimously agreed with the proposed change to the rule. FlyersRights commented that passengers should also be notified about the end of an opportunity to deplane.
DOT Response: The obligation to provide an announcement regarding the passengers opportunity to deplane from an aircraft is an essential component of the tarmac delay rule. As the Department has previously noted, the announcement serves the critical purpose of informing all passengers on the aircraft that the opportunity to deplane exists, which, in many situations, will not be apparent to passengers seated in areas that do not have a line of sight to an open aircraft door. It prevents situations in which some passengers experience a tarmac delay while other passengers on the same aircraft do not.
Based on the comments, the Department has decided to adopt the proposal regarding deplaning announcements, with slight clarifying modifications, in this final rule. Under the final rule, each time the opportunity to deplane exists at a suitable disembarkation point, each covered carrier must timely notify the passengers on board the aircraft that they have the opportunity to deplane.
Carriers no longer have an ongoing obligation to make deplaning announcements every 30 minutes, as required by the existing rule, but they are required to make a timely announcement when the opportunity to deplane arises, including in situations in which the aircraft returns to the gate on departure, or during a diversion when an aircraft is parked and awaiting departure to the intended destination. In determining whether a deplaning announcement is timely, the Office of Aviation Consumer Protection considers various factors, such as the length of time that the opportunity to deplane exists prior to an announcement being made and whether a lack of a deplaning announcement had the effect of depriving passengers of an opportunity to deplane. Carriers are not expected to provide deplaning announcements during the boarding process or prior to the scheduled departure time of the flight.
Although the Department does not prescribe the precise content of these announcements beyond informing passengers that they have the
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