TITLE 49 - US CODE - CHAPTER 419 - TRANSPORTATION OF MAIL

49 USC 41901 - General authority

(a) Title 39.—
The United States Postal Service may provide for the transportation of mail by aircraft in interstate air transportation under section 5402 (e) and (f) of title 39.

(b) Authority To Prescribe Prices.—
Except as provided in section 5402 of title 39, on the initiative of the Secretary of Transportation or on petition by the Postal Service or an air carrier, the Secretary shall prescribe and publish

(1) after notice and an opportunity for a hearing on the record, reasonable prices to be paid by the Postal Service for the transportation of mail by aircraft in foreign air transportation or between places in Alaska, the facilities used in and useful for the transportation of mail, and the services related to the transportation of mail for each carrier holding a certificate that authorizes that transportation;

(2) the methods used, whether by aircraft-mile, pound-mile, weight, space, or a combination of those or other methods, to determine the prices for each air carrier or class of air carriers; and

(3) the effective date of the prices.

(c) Other Transportation.—
In prescribing prices under subsection (b) of this section, the Secretary may include transportation other than by aircraft that is incidental to transportation of mail by aircraft or necessary because of emergency conditions related to aircraft operations.

(d) Authority To Prescribe Different Prices.—
Considering conditions peculiar to transportation by aircraft and to particular air carriers or classes of air carriers, the Secretary may prescribe different prices under this section for different air carriers or classes of air carriers and for different classes of service. In prescribing a price for a carrier under this section, the Secretary shall consider, among other factors, the following:

(1) the condition that the carrier may hold and operate under a certificate authorizing the transportation of mail only by providing necessary and adequate facilities and service for the transportation of mail.

(2) standards related to the character and quality of service to be provided that are prescribed by or under law.

(e) Statements on Prices.—
A petition for prescribing a reasonable price under this section must include a statement of the price the petitioner believes is reasonable.

(f) Statements on Required Services.—
The Postal Service shall introduce as part of the record in every proceeding under this section a comprehensive statement of the services to be required of the air carrier and other information the Postal Service has that the Secretary considers material to the proceeding.

49 USC 41902 - Schedules for certain transportation of mail

(a) Requirement.—
Except as provided in section 41906 of this title and section 5402 of title 39, an air carrier may transport mail by aircraft in foreign air transportation or between places in Alaska only under a schedule designated or required to be established under subsection (c) of this section for the transportation of mail.

(b) Statements on Places and Schedules.—
Every air carrier shall file with the Secretary of Transportation and the United States Postal Service a statement showing

(1) the places between which the carrier is authorized to provide foreign air transportation;

(2) the places between which the carrier is authorized to transport mail in Alaska;

(3) every schedule of aircraft regularly operated by the carrier between places described in clauses (1) and (2) of this subsection and every change in each schedule; and

(4) for each schedule, the places served by the carrier and the time of arrival at, and departure from, each place.

(1) designate any schedule of an air carrier filed under subsection (b)(3) of this section for the transportation of mail between the places between which the carrier is authorized by its certificate to transport mail; and

(2) require the carrier to establish additional schedules for the transportation of mail between those places.

(d) Changing Schedules.—
A schedule designated or required to be established for the transportation of mail under subsection (c) of this section may be changed only after 10 days notice of the change is filed as provided in subsection (b)(3) of this section. The Postal Service may disapprove a proposed change in a schedule or amend or modify the schedule or proposed change.

(e) Orders.—
An order of the Postal Service under this section may become effective only after 10 days after the order is issued. A person adversely affected by the order may appeal the order to the Secretary before the end of the 10-day period under regulations the Secretary prescribes. If the public convenience and necessity require, the Secretary may amend, modify, suspend, or cancel the order. Pending a decision about the order, the Secretary may postpone the effective date of the order.

(f) Proceedings Preferences.—
The Secretary shall give preference to a proceeding under this section over all other proceedings before the Secretary under this subpart.

49 USC 41903 - Duty to provide certain transportation of mail

(a) Air Carriers.—
Subject to subsection (b) of this section, an air carrier authorized by its certificate to transport mail by aircraft in foreign air transportation or between places in Alaska shall

(1) provide facilities and services necessary and adequate to provide that transportation; and

(2) transport mail between the places authorized in the certificate for transportation of mail when required, and under regulations prescribed, by the United States Postal Service.

(b) Maximum Mail Load.—
The Secretary of Transportation may prescribe the maximum mail load for a schedule or for an aircraft or type of aircraft for the transportation of mail by aircraft in foreign air transportation or between places in Alaska. If the Postal Service tenders to an air carrier mail exceeding the maximum load for transportation by the carrier under a schedule designated or required to be established for the transportation of mail under section 41902 (c) of this title, the carrier, as nearly in accordance with the schedule as the Secretary decides is possible, shall

(1) provide facilities sufficient to transport the mail to the extent the Secretary decides the carrier reasonably is able to do so; and

(2) transport that mail.

49 USC 41904 - Noncitizens transporting mail to or in foreign countries

When the United States Postal Service decides that it may be necessary to have a person not a citizen of the United States transport mail by aircraft to or in a foreign country, the Postal Service may make an arrangement with the person, without advertising, to provide the transportation.

49 USC 41905 - Regulating air carrier transportation of foreign mail

An air carrier holding a certificate that authorizes foreign air transportation and transporting mail of a foreign country shall transport that mail under the control of, and subject to regulation by, the United States Government.

49 USC 41906 - Emergency mail transportation

(a) Contract Authority.—
In an emergency caused by a flood, fire, or other disaster, the United States Postal Service may make a contract without advertising to transport mail by aircraft to or from a locality affected by the emergency when the available facilities of persons authorized to transport mail to or from the locality are inadequate to meet the requirements of the Postal Service during the emergency. The contract may be only for periods necessary to maintain mail service because of the inadequacy of the facilities. Payment for transportation provided under the contract shall be made at prices provided in the contract.

(b) Transportation Not Air Transportation.—
Transportation provided under a contract made under subsection (a) of this section is not air transportation within the meaning of this part.

49 USC 41907 - Prices for foreign transportation of mail

(a) Limitations.—
When air transportation is provided between the United States and a foreign country both by aircraft owned or operated by an air carrier holding a certificate under chapter 411 of this title and by aircraft owned or operated by a foreign air carrier, the United States Postal Service may not pay to or for the account of the foreign air carrier a price for transporting mail by aircraft between the United States and the foreign country that the Postal Service believes will result (over a reasonable period determined by the Postal Service considering exchange fluctuations and other factors) in the foreign air carrier receiving a price for transporting the mail that is higher than the price

(1) the government of a foreign country or foreign postal administration pays to air carriers for transporting mail of the foreign country by aircraft between the foreign country and the United States; or

(2) determined by the Postal Service to be comparable to the price the government of a foreign country or foreign postal administration pays to air carriers for transporting mail of the foreign country by aircraft between the foreign country and an intermediate country on the route of the air carrier between the foreign country and the United States.

(b) Changes.—
The Secretary of Transportation shall act expeditiously on proposed changes in prices for transporting mail by aircraft in foreign air transportation. When prescribing those prices, the Secretary shall consider

(1) the prices paid for transportation of mail under the Universal Postal Union Convention as ratified by the United States Government;

(2) the price-making elements used by the Universal Postal Union in prescribing its airmail prices; and

(3) the competitive disadvantage to United States flag air carriers resulting from foreign air carriers receiving Universal Postal Union prices for transporting United States mail and national origin mail of their own countries.

49 USC 41908 - Prices for transporting mail of foreign countries

(a) Price Determinations.—
The United States Postal Service shall determine the prices that an air carrier holding a certificate that authorizes foreign air transportation must charge a government of a foreign country or foreign postal administration for transporting mail of the foreign country. The Postal Service shall put those prices into effect under the postal convention regulating postal relations between the United States and the foreign country or as provided under this section.

(b) Changes.—
The Postal Service may authorize an air carrier holding a certificate that authorizes foreign air transportation, under limitations the Postal Service prescribes, to change the prices the carrier charges a government of a foreign country or foreign postal administration for transporting mail of the foreign country in the foreign country or between the foreign country and another foreign country.

(1) When an air carrier holding a certificate that authorizes foreign air transportation transports mail of a foreign country

(A) under an arrangement with a government of a foreign country or foreign postal administration made or approved under this section, the carrier must collect its compensation for the transportation from the foreign country under the arrangement; and

(B) without having an arrangement with a government of a foreign country or foreign postal administration consistent with this section, the compensation collected by the United States Government for the transportation shall be for the account of the air carrier.

(2) An air carrier holding a certificate that authorizes foreign air transportation is not entitled to receive compensation from both a government of a foreign country or foreign postal administration and the United States Government for transporting the same mail of the foreign country.

49 USC 41909 - Duty to oppose unreasonable prices under the Universal Postal Union Convention

The Secretary of State and the United States Postal Service shall

(1) take appropriate action to ensure that the prices paid for transporting mail under the Universal Postal Union Convention are not higher than reasonable prices for transporting mail; and

(2) oppose any existing or proposed Universal Postal Union price that is higher than a reasonable price for transporting mail.

49 USC 41910 - Weighing mail

The United States Postal Service may weigh mail transported by aircraft and make statistical and administrative computations necessary in the interest of mail service. When the Secretary of Transportation decides that additional or more frequent weighings of mail are advisable or necessary to carry out this part, the Postal Service shall provide the weighings, but it is not required to provide them for continuous periods of more than 30 days.

49 USC 41911 - Evidence of providing mail service

When and in the form required by the United States Postal Service, an air carrier transporting or handling

(1) United States mail shall submit evidence, signed by an authorized official, that the transportation or handling has been provided; and

(2) mail of a foreign country shall submit evidence, signed by an authorized official, of the amount of mail transported or handled and the compensation payable and received for that transportation or handling.

49 USC 41912 - Effect on foreign postal arrangements

This part does not

(1) affect an arrangement made by the United States Government with the postal administration of a foreign country related to the transportation of mail by aircraft; or

(2) impair the authority of the United States Postal Service to make such an arrangement.