FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, February 12, 1998
Contact: Bill Mosley
Tel.: (202) 366-5571
DOT 25-98
DOT ISSUES RULES REQUIRING
ENHANCED PASSENGER MANIFESTS
The Department of Transportation today issued a final rule requiring enhanced passenger manifests on flights to or from the United States.
The rule requires U.S. and foreign airlines to collect the full name of each U.S. citizen traveling on flights to or from the United States and to solicit a contact name and telephone number from those passengers. In the event of an aviation disaster, the airlines would be required to provide the manifest to the Department of State.
The final rule implements a provision of the Aviation Security Improvement Act of 1990, and follows the recommendations of both the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security and DOT's Task Force on Assistance to Families of Aviation Disasters.
"I applaud Secretary Slater's leadership in implementing this recommendation of the White House Commission," Vice President Gore said. "Families on international flights now can expect prompt and accurate notification if their loved ones are involved in an airline accident."
"The Clinton administration and the Congress have worked together to provide a more compassionate response to the victims of aviation disasters," said Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater. "This rule will ensure that families quickly receive more accurate information at this most difficult time."
Secretary of State Madeline Albright expressed her delight with the cooperation between the Departments of Transportation and State in issuing the rule. "Receiving from the airlines an enhanced passenger manifest quickly will greatly improve the State Department’s ability to fulfill its responsibility in the event of an aviation disaster," Albright said.
Although the rule does not require information about non-U.S. citizens, DOT encourages and will support any similar requirement imposed by a government to provide more compassionate assistance to its citizens, Secretary Slater said.
Following the tragic bombing of Pan American Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988, the Department of State experienced difficulties in securing complete and accurate passenger manifest information and notifying the families of the victims. Congress enacted legislation requiring DOT to issue a rule to require airlines to improve their passenger manifests for international flights.
The airlines must file with DOT their plans on how they will implement the rule by July 1, 1998, and begin collecting and requesting such information on Oct. 1, 1998.
The rule requires the airlines to collect a full name from all U.S.-citizen passengers and to request a contact name and phone number. Passengers will not be required to provide the contact information. This provision reflects both public comments on the rulemaking and the recommendations of the DOT task force. In its final report, the task force stated its concern that making the provision of contact information mandatory could result in conflicts at airport gates if airline personnel were required to deny boarding if a passenger did not provide the information. The task force recommended, however, that each passenger volunteer the information.
"Although airline passengers will not be required to provide contact information in order to board a flight, I highly recommend that they do so," said Joe Lychner, a member of the task force whose wife and daughters were killed aboard Trans World Airlines Flight 800. "In the unlikely event of an air disaster, by providing a name and telephone number the traveler is essentially guarding the emotions of their loved ones by insuring the quick notification of the event. In the case of TWA Flight 800, this rule would have dramatically reduced the time it took to notify the victims' family members and subsequently save hours and sometimes days of the pain of not knowing if our loved ones were on the plane."
This rule does not apply to flights that are solely within the United States. On March 13, 1997, the department issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), asking whether enhanced manifests should be required on flights between points within the United States. The department will review the implementation of this rule during its consideration of the comments to the ANPRM.
The final rule affects over 140 U.S. air carriers and over 300 foreign air carriers.
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