OST Form 397 Air Carrier's Report of Departures Performed in Schedule

Approved by

OMB No. 2106-0044

Expires xx/xx/xxxx

U.S. Department of Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation

AIR CARRIER’S REPORT OF DEPARTURES PERFORMED IN SCHEDULED SERVICE

Submit this form to:

Mike Monroney Aero Center Accounts Payable Branch, AMZ-150 6500 S. MacArthur Blvd, ANF-2 Bldg, Room 140 Oklahoma City, OK 73169

Carrier:				Aircraft type:	Month:
From:				To:	Flight No.:
Scheduled Routing:					Frequency
	Departures performed:
Date	Claimed by carrier:	Allowed by DOT:	Aircraft Substitutions, Irregular Flights and Other Remarks
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Total

OST Form 397 (Rev. 9-97)

PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT BURDEN STATEMENT

The information called for by this form is used by the Office of the Secretary of Transportation to verify, adjust, and settle claims for the provision of subsidized essential air service at eligible communities. The information will form the basis for paying claims to subsidized air carriers, who must submit these completed forms to claim subsidy payable to them under 49 USC 41737(c). Public reporting burden of this collection of information is estimated an average of 3 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. The information submitted to the Department of Transportation (DOT) becomes publically available. The DOT may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The OMB control number for this collection is 2106-0044. All responses to this collection of information are mandatory.  Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing the burden to:  U.S. Department of Transportation, Resource Directorate Office, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20590.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR OST FORM 397

For the service at issue, a OST Form 397 should be completed for each scheduled flight number operated during the month. For example, if the carrier's subsidized service comprises two round trips a day between community A and hub B and flight numbers are not changed during the month, the carrier should complete four OST Forms 397 -- one for each of the two flights from A to B, and one for each of the two flights from B to A. Please note that this information is provided on a day-by-day basis; the days of the month, from 1 to 31, run down the left-hand side of the form.

1. AIRCRAFT TYPE/SEATS: The aircraft type flown, even if it differs from the type designated in the rate order. The carrier should also show the number of passenger seats on the aircraft; however, if the aircraft actually flown is larger than that designated in the rate order, the carrier should claim no more seats than the number specified in the rate order. All aircraft substitutions should be noted in the Remarks column (see instruction 5 below).

2. FROM and TO: Flights between a community and hub should be shown on a directional basis, A to B or B to A, as applicable.

3. SCHEDULED ROUTING: The routing as scheduled for the subsidy-eligible flight as shown in the rate order. Generally, a subsidy payout formula is based on nonstop service even if the carrier is allowed, but not required, to make an intermediate stop. (The purpose of this is to avoid penalizing a carrier for providing superior service. Otherwise, if a payout formula were based on one-stop service, a carrier providing nonstop service would be claiming fewer departures and thus less subsidy than it was entitled to.) Only scheduled flights in revenue service are subsidy-eligible; nonrevenue flights, such as ferry flights for maintenance or other purposes, are not eligible.

4. FREQUENCY: The days each week that the flight is scheduled, with Monday = 1 through Sunday = 7. For instance, a flight scheduled on Saturdays only should be shown as 6; a flight scheduled Monday through Friday only should be shown as x67.

5. AIRCRAFT SUBSTITUTIONS, IRREGULAR FLIGHTS, AND OTHER REMARKS: Carriers are required to fully comply with Department orders. However, there may be rare circumstances where flights cannot be operated as scheduled. In those instances, carriers must always claim each individual flight as it was actually operated, even if the actual aircraft used or the actual flight routing differed from that required by the Department order. Such deviations would include, but not be limited to, aircraft substitutions, unauthorized intermediate or upline points, combined flights and weather cancellations. For example, if a carrier made an unauthorized intermediate stop between the EAS point and the hub, the claim should show the actual routing including the stop that was not allowed. This will allow the Department to assess how much compensation, if any, the carrier should receive for the flight at issue, and will ensure that when the carrier is ultimately audited by the Department, its flight logs and other documentation will be consistent with what the carrier claimed.

6. RECORD RETENTION: Carriers are required to retain all books, records, and other source and summary documentation to support subsidy claims for payment and to preserve and maintain such documentation in a manner that readily permits the audit and examination thereof by representatives of the Department. Such documentation shall be retained for seven years or until the Department indicates that the records may be destroyed. Copies of flight logs for aircraft sold or disposed of must be retained.