Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 94 Part 1.djvu/96

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PUBLIC LAW 96-000—MMMM. DD, 1980

94 STAT. 46 Foreign air fares.

"Standard foreign fare level."

Unjust or unreasonable fares, determination.

PUBLIC LAW 96-192—FEB. 15, 1980 "(6) The Board shall not have authority to find any fare for foreign air transportation of persons to be unjust or unreasonable on the basis that such fare is too low or too high if— "(A) with respect to any proposed increase filed with the Board on or after the date of enactment of this paragraph, and before the 180th day after such date of enactment, such proposed fare would not be more than the standard foreign fare level for the same or essentially similar class of service. No such fare shall be suspended, unless the Board determines that it may be unduly preferential, unduly prejudicial, or unjustly discriminatory or that suspension is in the public interest because of unreasonable regulatory actions by a foreign government with respect to fare proposals of an air carrier; or "(B) with respect to any proposed increase filed with the Board after the 180th day after the date of enactment of this paragraph such proposed fare would not be more than 5 percent higher than the standard foreign fare level for the same or essentially similar class of service. No such fare shall be suspended, unless the Board determines that it may be unduly preferential, unduly prejudicial, or unjustly discriminatory or that suspension is in the public interest because of unreasonable regulatory actions by a foreign government with respect to fare proposals of an air carrier; or "(C) with respect to any proposed decrease filed after the date of enactment of this paragraph, the fare would not be more than 50 percent lower than the standard foreign fare level for the same or essentially similar class of service, except that this provision shall not apply to any proposed decrease in any fare if the Board determines that such proposed fare may be predatory or discriminatory or that suspension of any such fare is required because of unreasonable regulatory actions by a foreign government with respect to fare proposals by an air carrier. "(7) For purposes of this subsection, 'standard foreign fare level' means that fare level (as adjusted only in accordance with paragraph (9) of this subsection) filed for and permitted by the Civil Aeronautics Board to go into effect on or after October 1, 1979 and before the 180th day after the date of enactment of this paragraph (with seasonal fares adjusted by the percentage difference that prevailed between seasons in 1978), or the fare level established under paragraph (8), for each pair of points, for each class of fare existing on that date, and in effect on the effective date of the establishment of each additional class of fare established after October 1, 1979. "(8)(A) The Board is authorized, on the basis of oral evidentiary hearings before an administrative law judge, to determine that a fare between two points on October 1, 1979 is unjust or unreasonable. Such oral evidentiary hearing shall be completed within 180 days of enactment of this section, and the Board may establish such deadlines including the deadline for the judge's decision as the Board may deem necessary to meet such requirement. If the Board determines that such a fare is unjust or unreasonable, the Board shall, on the basis of such hearing record, establish the standard foreign fare level between such points. "(B) Standard foreign fare levels shall not be established under this paragraph for points between which the passengers carried by United States carriers in foreign air transportation are, in the aggregate, more than 25 percent of the total passengers carried by United States air carriers in foreign air transportation during the most recent 12month period for which data is available.