14CFR Part 234.4

§ 234.3

14 CFR Ch. II (1–1–21 Edition)

On-time performance means the percentage of scheduled operations of a
specific flight that an air carrier operates on-time during a month.
On-time performance code means a single character determined in accordance
with the provisions of this part that reflects the monthly on-time performance of certain nonstop flights and single plane one-stop or multi-stop
flights, the schedule and availability of
which are listed in a computer reservation system (CRS) regulated by 14 CFR
part 255.
Reportable flight. (1) Reportable flight
for air transportation taking place before January 1, 2018 means any nonstop
flight, including a mechanically delayed flight, to or from any airport
within the contiguous 48 states that
accounts for at least 1 percent of domestic
scheduled-passenger
enplanements in the previous calendar
year, as reported to the Department
pursuant to part 241 of this title. Qualifying airports will be specified periodically in accounting and reporting directives issued by the Office of Airline
Information.
(2) Reportable flight for air transportation taking place on or after January
1, 2018 means any domestic nonstop
scheduled passenger flight, including a
mechanically delayed flight, held out
to the public under the reporting carrier’s code, to or from any U.S. large,
medium, small, or non-hub airport as
defined in 49 U.S.C. 47102. Qualifying
airports will be specified periodically
in accounting and reporting directives
issued by the Office of Airline Information.
Reporting carrier. (1) Reporting carrier for air transportation taking place
before January 1, 2018 means an air
carrier certificated under 49 U.S.C.
41102 that accounted for at least 1 percent of domestic scheduled-passenger
revenues in the most recently reported
12-month period as defined by the Department’s Office of Airline Information, and as reported to the Department pursuant to part 241 of this title.
Reporting carriers will be identified periodically in accounting and reporting
directives issued by the Office of Airline Information.
(2) Reporting carrier for air transportation taking place on or after January

1, 2018 means an air carrier certificated
under 49 U.S.C. 41102 that accounted for
at least 0.5 percent of domestic scheduled-passenger revenus in the most recently reported 12-month period as defined by the Department’s Office of
Airline Information, and as reported to
the Department pursuant to part 241 of
this chapter. Reporting carriers will be
identified periodically in accounting
and reporting directives issued by the
Office of Airline Information.
[Amdt. 234–1, 52 FR 34071, Sept. 9, 1987, as
amended by Doc. No. 48524, 59 FR 49797, Sept.
30, 1994; 60 FR 66722, Dec. 26, 1995; Dockt. No.
DOT–RITA–2011–0001, 81 FR 76306, Nov. 2,
2016; Dockt. No. DOT–OST–2014–056; 81 FR
76826, Nov. 3, 2016]

§ 234.3 Applicability.
For air transportation taking place
before January 1, 2018, this part applies
to reportable flights as defined in § 234.2
that are held out to the public by certificated air carriers that account for
at least 1 percent of domestic scheduled passenger revenues. As stated in
§ 234.7, certain provisions also apply to
voluntary reporting of on-time performance by carriers. For air transportation taking place on or after January
1, 2018, this part applies to reportable
flights as defined in § 234.2 that are held
out to the public by certificated air
carriers that account for at least 0.5
percent of domestic scheduled passenger revenues. As stated in § 234.7,
certain provisions also apply to voluntary reporting of on-time performance by carriers.
[Dockt. No. DOT–OST–2014–0056, 81 FR 76826,
Nov. 3, 2016]

§ 234.4 Reporting of on-time performance.
(a) Each reporting carrier shall file
BTS Form 234 ‘‘On-Time Flight Performance Report’’ with the Office of
Airline Information of the Department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics on a monthly basis, setting
forth the information for each of its reportable flights operated by the reporting carrier and held out to the public
on the reporting carrier’s Web site and
the Web sites of major online travel
agencies, or in other generally recognized sources of schedule information.
(See also paragraph (k) of this section.)

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Office of the Secretary, DOT

§ 234.4

The reportable flights include, but are
not limited to, cancelled flights, mechanically cancelled flights, diverted
flights, new flights and wet-leased
flights. The report shall be made in the
form and manner set forth in accounting and reporting directives issued by
the Director, Office of Airline Statistics, and shall contain the following information:
(1) Carrier and flight number.
(2) Aircraft tail number.
(3) Origin and Destination airport
codes.
(4) Published OAG departure and arrival times for each scheduled operation of the flight.
(5) CRS scheduled arrival and departure time for each scheduled operation
of the flight.
(6) Actual departure and arrival time
for each operation of the flight.
(7) Difference in minutes between
OAG and CRS scheduled arrival times.
(8) Difference in minutes between
OAG and CRS scheduled departure
times.
(9) Actual wheels-off and wheels-on
times for each operation of the flight.
(10) Date and day of week of scheduled flight operation.
(11) Scheduled elapsed time, according to CRS schedule.
(12) Actual elapsed time.
(13) Amount of departure delay, if
any.
(14) Amount of arrival delay, if any.
(15) Amount of elapsed time difference, if any.
(16) Causal code for cancellation, if
any.
(17) Minutes of delay attributed to
the air carrier, if any.
(18) Minutes of delay attributed to
extreme weather, if any.
(19) Minutes of delay attributed to
the national aviation system, if any.
(20) Minutes of delay attributed to security, if any.
(21) Minutes of delay attributed to a
previous late arriving aircraft, if any.
(22) For gate returns, first gate-departure time at origin airport.
(23) Total ground time away from
gate for all gate/air returns at origin
airport, including cancelled flights—
actual minutes.
(24) Longest time away from gate for
gate return or cancelled flight.

(25) Three-letter code of airport
where diverted flight landed.
(26) Wheels-on time at diverted airport.
(27) Total time away from gate at diverted airport.
(28) Longest period of time away
from gate at diverted airport.
(29) Wheels-off time at diverted airport.
(b) Repeat fields (25) through (29) for
each subsequent diverted airport landing.
(c) When reporting the information
specified in paragraph (a) of this section for diverted flights, a reporting
carrier shall use the original scheduled
flight number and the origin and destination airport codes except for item
(25).
(d) A reporting carrier shall report
the information specified in paragraph
(a) of this section for a new flight beginning with the first day of the new
scheduled operation.
(e) A reporting carrier shall not report the information specified in paragraph (a) of this section for any discontinued or extra-section flight.
(f) Actual arrival, departure and
elapsed times shall be measured by the
times at which the aircraft arrived at
and departed from the gate or passenger loading area.
(g) The published arrival time and departure time of a flight shall be, respectively, the scheduled arrival and
departure times in effect on the date of
the scheduled operation of the flight,
as shown in the most recent Official
Airline Guide, and in computer reservations systems. Each carrier shall designate a single computer reservations
system in addition to the Official Airline Guide as the sources of scheduled
arrival time and departure time data in
its reports to the Department and shall
report the scheduled arrival times and
departure times listed in those sources
for each flight. Scheduled elapsed
times, amount of departure and/or arrival delay, and elapsed time difference
shall be calculated using the scheduled
times shown in the designated CRS
source.
(h) Reporting carriers should use the
following codes to identify causes for
cancelled flights:
Code

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§ 234.4

14 CFR Ch. II (1–1–21 Edition)

A—Air Carrier
B—Extreme Weather
C—National Aviation System (NAS).
D-Security

(3) NAS delays are caused by circumstances within the National Aviation System. This term is used to refer
to a broad set of conditions: weathernon-extreme, airport operations, heavy
traffic volume, air traffic control, etc.
(4) Security delays may be the result
of malfunctioning screening or other
security equipment or a breech of security that causes the evacuation of the
airport or individual concourses or the
need to re-screen passengers.
(5) Late arriving aircraft delays are
the result of a late incoming aircraft
from the previous flight.
(j) When reporting causal codes in
paragraph (a) of this section, reporting
carriers are required to code delays
only when the arrival delay is 15 minutes or greater; and reporting carriers
must report each causal component of
the reportable delay when the causal
component is 5 minutes or greater.
(k) For air transportation taking
place on or after January 1, 2018, each
reporting carrier shall also file a separate BTS Form 234 ‘‘On-Time Flight
Performance Report’’ with the Office of
Airline Information on a monthly
basis, setting forth the information for
each of its reportable flights held out
with only the reporting carrier’s airline designator code on the reporting
carrier’s Web site, on the Web sites of
major online travel agencies, or in
other generally recognized sources of
schedule information, and operated by
any code-share partner that is a certificated air carrier or commuter air carrier. If the operating carrier of the
flight is not a reporting carrier, the
non-operating reporting carrier must
file a BTS Form 234 ‘‘On-time Flight
Performance Report’’ with the Office of
Airline Information on a monthly
basis, setting forth the information regarding those flights in a form and
manner consistent with the requirements set forth in paragraph (a)
through (j) of this section. If the operating carrier of the flight is a reporting
carrier, the non-operating reporting
carrier must file a simplified BTS
Form 234 ‘‘On-Time Flight Performance Report’’ with the Office of Airline
Information on a monthly basis, setting forth the information regarding
those flights in a form and manner consistent with the requirements set forth

(1) Air Carrier cancellations are due
to circumstances that were within the
control of the air carrier (e.g., lack of
flight crew, maintenance, etc.).
(2) Extreme weather cancellations
are caused by weather conditions (e.g.,
significant meteorological conditions),
actual or forecasted at the point of departure, en route, or point of arrival
that, in accordance with applicable
regulatory standards and/or in the
judgment of the air carrier, prevents
operation of that flight and/or prevents
operations of subsequent flights due to
the intended aircraft being out of position as a result of a prior cancellation
or delay attributable to weather.
(3) NAS cancellations are caused by
circumstances within the National
Aviation System. This term is used to
refer to a broad set of conditions:
weather-non-extreme, airport operations, heavy traffic volume, air traffic
control, etc.
(4) Security cancellations may be the
result of malfunctioning screening or
other security equipment or a breech of
security that causes the evacuation of
the airport or individual concourses, or
the need to re-screen passengers.
(i) Reporting carriers should use the
following causes to identify the reasons
for delayed flights:
CAUSE
Air Carrier
Extreme weather
NAS
Security
Late arriving aircraft

(1) Air carrier delays are due to circumstances within the control of the
air carrier.
(2) Extreme weather delays are
caused by weather conditions (e.g., significant meteorological conditions, actual or forecasted at the point of departure, en route, or point of arrival that,
in accordance with applicable regulatory standards and/or in the judgment of the air carrier, prevents operation of that flight and/or prevents operations of subsequent flights due to
the intended aircraft being out of position as a result of a prior cancellation
or delay attributable to weather.

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Office of the Secretary, DOT

§ 234.6
12-month period as defined by the Department’s Office of Airline Information, and as reported to the Department pursuant to part 241 of this title
shall report monthly to the Department on a domestic system basis, excluding charter flights:
(1) The total number of checked bags
enplaned, including gate checked baggage, ‘‘valet bags,’’ interlined bags, and
wheelchairs and scooters enplaned in
the aircraft cargo compartment for any
domestic nonstop scheduled passenger
flight, including a mechanically delayed flight, operated by the carrier to
or from any U.S. large, medium, small
or non-hub airport as defined in 49
U.S.C. 41702 and separately for any domestic nonstop scheduled passenger
flight, including a mechanically delayed flight, held out with only the
carrier’s designator code to or from
any U.S. large, medium, small, or nonhub airport as defined in 49 U.S.C. 47102
and operated by any code-share partner
that is a certificated air carrier or
commuter air carrier;
(2) The total number of wheelchairs
and scooters that were enplaned in the
aircraft cargo compartment for any domestic nonstop scheduled passenger
flight, including a mechanically delayed flight, operated by the carrier to
or from any U.S. large, medium, small
or non-hub airport as defined in 49
U.S.C. 41702 and separately for any domestic nonstop scheduled passenger
flight, including a mechanically delayed flight, held out with only the
carrier’s designator code to or from
any U.S. large, medium, small, or nonhub airport as defined in 49 U.S.C. 47102
and operated by any code-share partner
that is a certificated air carrier or
commuter air carrier;
(3) The number of mishandled
checked bags, including gate-checked
baggage, ‘‘valet bags,’’ interlined bags
and wheelchairs and scooters that were
enplaned in the aircraft cargo compartment for any domestic nonstop scheduled passenger flight, including a mechanically delayed flight, operated by
the carrier to or from any U.S. large,
medium, small or non-hub airport as
defined in 49 U.S.C. 41702 and separately for any domestic nonstop scheduled passenger flight, including a mechanically delayed flight, held out with

in paragraph (a)(1) through (a)(4) and
paragraph (a)(10) of this section, and in
accordance with the requirements set
forth in accounting and reporting directives issued by the Office of Airline
Information.
[Amdt. 234–1, 52 FR 34071, Sept. 9, 1987, as
amended by Doc. No. 48524, 59 FR 49797, Sept.
30, 1994; 60 FR 66722, Dec. 26, 1995; 67 FR 70544,
Nov. 25, 2002; Doc. No. RITA 2007–28522, 73 FR
29431, May 21, 2008; Dockt. No. DOT–OST–
2014–0056; 81 FR 76826, Nov. 3, 2016]

§ 234.5 Form of reports.
Except where otherwise noted, all reports required by this part shall be
filed within 15 days of the end of the
month for which data are reported. The
reports must be submitted to the Office
of Airline Information in a format
specified in accounting and reporting
directives issued by the Bureau of
Transportation Statistics’ Assistant
Director for Airline Information.
[Doc. No. DOT–OST–2000–8164, 67 FR 70545,
Nov. 25, 2002]

§ 234.6 Baggage-handling statistics.
(a) For air transportation taking
place before January 1, 2019, an air carrier certificated under 49 U.S.C. 41102
that accounts for at least 1 percent of
domestic scheduled-passenger revenues
in the most recently reported 12-month
period as defined by the Department’s
Office of Airline Information, and as
reported to the Department pursuant
to part 241 of this title shall, for the
flights it operates, report monthly to
the Department on a domestic system
basis, excluding charter flights, the
total number of passengers enplaned
system-wide and the total number of
mishandled-baggage reports filed with
the carrier for any nonstop flight, including a mechanically delayed flight,
to or from any airport within the contiguous 48 states that accounts for at
least 1 percent of domestic scheduledpassenger enplanements in the previous calendar year, as reported to the
Department pursuant to part 241 of this
title.
(b) For air transportation taking
place on or after January 1, 2019, an air
carrier certificated under 49 U.S.C.
41102 that accounts for at least 0.5 percent of domestic scheduled-passenger
revenues in the most recently reported

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