Altor guide · 2026-09-17
DGD rejected by airline what to do before the next tender
The carton is back on the dock. The booking is gone. The discrepancy note cites the Shipper's Declaration. DGD rejected by airline what to do starts with that note, not with a second print of the form that just failed. The acceptance desk at the cargo terminal does not grade reprints. It grades the paper and the box against the current list.
What the regulation actually requires
A US originating air consignment is still offered under 49 CFR 173.22. The offeror classes and describes the material, and determines that the packaging is authorized. 49 CFR 172.202 is the basic description on the shipping paper: identification number, proper shipping name, class or division, packing group when one is assigned, then quantity and packaging type. For air, IATA DGR 8.1 is the Shipper's Declaration. IATA DGR 8.1.6 is the completion standard. Nature and quantity go in the sequence at IATA DGR 8.1.6.9. 49 CFR 172.204 is the shipper's certification. IATA DGR 8.1.6.12 is the matching block on the air form. For air, 49 CFR 172.204(c)(3) adds that the applicable air transport requirements have been met.
The operator does not have to take the freight. 49 CFR 175.30(a) forbids acceptance aboard an aircraft unless the operator has ensured the material is authorized and within the quantity limits, described and certified on a shipping paper prepared in duplicate, marked and labeled, and labeled Cargo Aircraft Only when it is not permitted on a passenger aircraft. IATA DGR 9.1.3 is the acceptance walk that implements that duty. ICAO TI Part 7, Chapter 1, is the source chapter. The desk runs the paper, then the carton, in checklist order. A miss parks the consignment. That is a refusal to accept, not a completed shipment.
49 CFR 175.31 is a different event. It is a report to the FAA when a discrepancy is found after the operator has already accepted the material. A bounce at the desk is 175.30 doing its job. Do not treat the discrepancy note as an FAA case. It is the finding the second tender still has to survive.
A worked example from the current ICAO TI Table 3-1 extract. UN 1090 Acetone, Class 3, packing group II. Passenger packing instruction 353 at 5 L, limited quantity Y341 at 1 L. Cargo packing instruction 364 at 60 L. A passenger booking that writes packing group III, packing instruction 355, and 10 L will fail IATA DGR 9.1.3. A new date on that line does not change the list. The list still wants packing group II, packing instruction 353, and not more than 5 L per package on passenger aircraft. If the net quantity needs the cargo column, the booking has to be cargo aircraft and the instruction has to be 364.
UN 3480 Lithium ion batteries is passenger forbidden on the same list. A passenger tick on that entry fails before anyone weighs the box. Changing the print time does not open the passenger column.
The mistake people make
They reprint the failed declaration with a new date and send it back to the same desk.
They argue with the acceptance clerk instead of reading the discrepancy note. They have a forwarder overwrite one cell and keep the original certification. 49 CFR 172.204 and IATA DGR 8.1.6.12 still name the person who offers the material. A corrected line with an old signature is still a certification of the old line.
They change the paper and leave the marks. IATA DGR 9.1.3 compares them. They change the quantity on the form and leave 10 L in the inner packaging. They copy Section 14 of the SDS onto a fresh form and call that a correction. They book a new slot on a later aircraft with the same failed declaration. They treat a verbal glance as a finding.
A reprint is a second offer of the same error. 49 CFR 173.22 does not move because the first tender was refused.
DGD rejected by airline: what to do after the discrepancy note
Pull the discrepancy note and the declaration that was tendered. Read the cited line. Open the current IATA DGR Section 4.2 list, and 49 CFR 172.101 when the US description governs. Confirm UN number, proper shipping name, class, packing group, packing instruction, net quantity, and aircraft type for this consignment.
If the finding is packing group or packing instruction, change the cell to the current list, then check the quantity against that instruction and that aircraft column. For UN 1090 on passenger aircraft, that is packing group II, packing instruction 353, 5 L or less, unless you are actually using the Y341 limited quantity line at 1 L. If the quantity needs packing instruction 364, the booking has to be cargo aircraft. 49 CFR 173.27 is the US aircraft packaging and quantity rule that sits next to that choice.
If the finding is marks or labels, walk the carton. The identification number, the proper shipping name, and the diamonds have to match the corrected paper. If the finding is a missing technical name on an n.o.s. entry, add it on the paper and on the package per 49 CFR 172.203(k). If the finding is a blank emergency telephone, 49 CFR 172.604 still wants a 24 hour number monitored for the whole movement.
Walk the packages against the paper in the same order IATA DGR 9.1.3 will, then sign again under 49 CFR 172.204 and IATA DGR 8.1.6.12. You keep the pen. The recovery path, including sending the rejected declaration and the carrier note, is at https://altor.consulting/rejected.html.
Do not tender the same failed line twice.
Altor pre-checks completed Dangerous Goods Declarations line by line against the current regulations and returns a written report, with every finding cited, within one business day. You keep the pen. altor.consulting
Catch the rejection before the carrier does
Send your completed declaration before you tender it. A line by line advisory report comes back within 24 hours, every finding cited. $95 flat, one click, and you keep the pen.
Pre-check my DGD · $95 → All servicesRelated: shipment rejected? 24 hour fix · the 2026 lithium battery rule change · all guides
