(a) Air carrier. Individuals or entities that operate commercial fixed and rotary wing aircraft in accordance with the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR Chapter I) or equivalent regulations issued by a country's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and which provide air transportation or operational support services. Commercial air carriers under contract with, or operating on behalf of the DOD shall have a FAA or CAA certificate.

(b) Air transportation services. The transport of DOD personnel or cargo by fixed or rotary wing commercial aircraft, where such services are acquired primarily for the transportation of DOD personnel and cargo, through donation or any form of contract, tender, blanket ordering agreement, Government charge card, Government or commercial transportation request (TR), bill of lading, or similar instruments. Air transportation services also include medical evacuation services, paratrooper drops, and charter airlift and group travel arranged by the Military Service Academies, foreign military sales, nonappropriated fund instrumentalities by other DOD and non-DOD activities for DOD personnel. All air carriers providing air transportation services to DOD must have a FAA or CAA certificate. The policy contained in this Directive shall not apply to individually procured, discretionary air travel, such as that associated with military leave or pass.

(c) Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The CAA refers to the organization within a country that has the authority and responsibility to regulate civil aviation. The term CAA is used throughout this part since these requirements are applicable to both U.S. and foreign carriers doing business with DOD. The term CAA thus includes the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

(d) Code sharing. Code sharing is a marketing arrangement in which an air carrier places its designator code on a flight operated by another air carrier and sells tickets for that flight.

(e) DOD approval. DOD approval in the context of this part refers to the process by which air carriers seeking to provide passenger or cargo airlift services (hereinafter referred to as air transportation services) to the DOD must be screened and evaluated by the DOD Air Carrier Survey and Analysis Office or other entity authorized by the CARB, and approved for DOD use by the CARB. Once initial approval is obtained, a DOD approved air carrier must remain in an approved status to be eligible for DOD business. Although not generally required, the CARB or higher authority may, on a case-by-case basis, require DOD approval of air carriers providing operational support services to DOD.

(f) DOD air carrier safety and quality review process. Includes four possible levels of review with increasing authority. The responsibilities of each are described in more detail in the reference in §861.1 (b). These levels consist of the:

(1) DOD Air Carrier Survey and Analysis Office;

(2) DOD Commercial Airlift Review Board (CARB);

(3) Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Transportation Command, or USCINCTRANS; and

(4) Secretary of Defense. (Note: A DOD-level body, the Commercial Airlift Review Authority, or CARA, provides advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Defense.)

(g) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) International Safety Assessment (IASA) program and categories. The FAA IASA program assesses the ability of a foreign country's CAA to adhere to international standards established by the United Nation's technical agency for aviation, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The FAA has established ratings for the status of countries as follows:

(1) Category 1—Does comply with ICAO standards. A country's CAA has been found to license and oversee air carriers in accordance with ICAO aviation safety standards.

(2) Category 2—Does not comply with ICAO standards. A country's CAA does not meet ICAO standards for aviation oversight. Operations to the U.S. by a carrier from a Category 2 country are limited to those in effect at the time a country is classified as Category 2 and are subjected to heightened FAA surveillance. Expansion or changes in services to the U.S. are not permitted while a country is in Category 2 status unless the carrier arranges to have new services conducted by an air carrier from a Category 1 country. Category 2 countries that do not have operations to the U.S. at the time of the FAA assessment are not permitted to commence such operations unless it arranges to have its flights conducted by an air carrier from a Category 1 country.

(3) Non-rated. A country's CAA is labeled “non-rated” if it has not been assessed by the FAA.

(h) GSA City Pair Program. A program managed by the General Services Administration in which U.S. air carriers compete for annual contracts awarding U.S. Government business for specific domestic and international scheduled service city pair routes.

(i) Group travel. Twenty-one or more passengers on orders from the same organization traveling on the same date to the same destination to attend the same function.

(j) Letter of Warning. A notice to a DOD approved air carrier of a failure to satisfy safety or airworthiness requirements which, if not remedied, may result in temporary nonuse or suspension of the air carrier by the DOD. Issuance of a Letter of Warning is not a prerequisite to a suspension or other action by the CARB or higher DOD authority.

(k) On-site Capability Survey. The most comprehensive evaluation performed by DOD's Air Carrier Survey and Analysis Office. Successful completion of this evaluation is required of most air carriers before they may be approved to provide air transportation services to DOD. Once approved, air carriers are subject to periodic On-site Capability Surveys, as specified at Enclosure 3 in the reference in §861.1(b).

(l) Operational support services. Missions performed by air carriers that use fixed or rotary-winged aircraft to provide services other than air transportation services as defined in paragraph (b) of this section. Examples include, but are not limited to, range instrumentation and services, target-towing, sling loads, and electronic countermeasures target flights. Air carriers providing only operational support services do not require advance DOD approval and are not subject to the initial or periodic on-site survey requirements under this part, unless directed by the CARB or higher authority. All air carriers providing operational support services to DOD must have a FAA or CAA certificate and are required to maintain applicable FAA or CAA standards absent deviation authority obtained pursuant to 14 CFR 119.55 or similar CAA rules.

(m) Performance assessments. Reviews conducted by U.S. air carriers when evaluating foreign air carriers with which they have code share arrangements, using performance-based factors. Such assessments include reviewing a variety of air carrier data including history, safety, scope/size, financial condition, equipment, flight operations and airworthiness issues.

(n) Performance evaluations. Reviews conducted by DOD as directed in the references in §861.1(a) and (b). These evaluations include a review of air carrier flight operations, maintenance departments, safety programs and other air carrier areas as necessary. Performance evaluations are not conducted on-site, but rely on information collected primarily from the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

(o) Preflight safety inspection. A visual safety inspection of the interior and exterior of an air carrier's aircraft performed by DOD personnel in accordance with the references in §861.1(a) and (b).

(p) Suspension. The exclusion of an air carrier from providing services to the DOD. The period of suspension will normally:

(1) Remain in effect until the air carrier furnishes satisfactory evidence that the conditions causing the suspension have been remedied and has been reinstated by the CARB, or;

(2) Be for a fixed period of time as determined at the discretion of the CARB.

(q) Temporary nonuse. The immediate exclusion of a DOD approved air carrier from providing services to the DOD pending a decision on suspension. Normally, temporary nonuse will be for a period of 30 days or less. However, by mutual agreement of the CARB and the air carrier involved, a suspension hearing or decision may be delayed and the air carrier continued in a temporary nonuse status for an extended period of time.

(r) Voluntarily provided safety-related information. Information which consists of nonfactual safety-related data, reports, statements, and other information provided to DOD by an air carrier at any point in the evaluation process described in this Part. It does not include factual safety-related information, such as statistics, maintenance reports, training records, flight planning information, and the like.