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FAA-2008-0547 - Chicago O'Hare Winter 2008/2009 Scheduling Season
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Winter 2008/2009 Scheduling Season On File at Federal Register May 5, 2008 Notice of Submission Deadline - Chicago O'Hare As Published in Federal Register May 8, 2008 The FAA announces a May 15, 2008 deadline for submitting requests for domestic and international scheduled arrivals at Chicago O'Hare Airport for the Winter 2008/2009 scheduling season beginning October 26, 2008. The deadline coincides with the submission deadline established by the International Air Transport Association for the Winter 2008/2009 Schedules Conference. The FAA currently limits arrivals at ORD from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Central Time, Monday through Friday, and 12 p.m. to 9 p.m., Central Time, on Sunday, based primarily on runway capacity limits. The FAA's restrictions at ORD in Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 93, Subpart B, are the equivalent of a Level 3 Fully Coordinated Airport as used in lATA Worldwide Scheduling Guidelines. Separate schedule facilitation is done at the airport level for international passenger flights operating at TerminalS. In addition to tiling schedules for FAA runway capacity review, carriers should also file TerminalS schedules, if appropriate, at the address indicated in the lATA Worldwide Scheduling Guidelines, Annex 3. Carriers would obtain separate approval for FAA runway slots and Terminal 5 operations, as appropriate. The FAA rules limiting flights at ORD will sunset on October 24, 2008, under the terms of the rule effective October 29, 2006. This sunset provision was based on an expected increase in capacity when the first new runway opens under the O'Hare Modernization Program (aMP). Runway 9L127R is currently planned to be commissioned in November 2008. This will provide additional capacity at O'Hare for arriving and departing aircraft under various weather and runway configurations. Capacity projections estimate over 50,000 annual operations, or an average of about 8-10 total operations per hour, may be accommodated. However, additional operations must be reasonably distributed to avoid significant delay consequences. Terminal and gate availability are also expected to be constraints during certain periods. The FAA is seeking information in order to review projected schedules and to assist the agency in determining whether scheduling limits may continue to be applied at ORD until further runway capacity is realized under Phase II of the aMP. The form of the scheduling limitations, if needed, has not been determined Options include 1) remove FAA scheduling limitations by letting the rule expire; 2) continue the airport's designation as lATA Level 3 and utilize the IATA Worldwide Scheduling Guidelines, with appropriate local rules, to review planned operations and resolve oversubscribed hours that would result in unacceptable delays; and 3) increase the scheduling limits to recognize additional runway capacity and modify the expiration date of the current rule. Any proposal to modify or extend the rule would be in a separate rulemaking process. By: Rebecca Macpherson
FAA-2008-0517 - Congestion Management Rule for JFK and Newark May 8, 2008 The recent spike in fuel prices has created a highly unusual and unpredictable condition that is beyond the control of the carriers arid will affect the airlines for some time to come, thereby providing good cause for the requested waiver. While carriers are doing all that they can individually to adjust for the current market environment throughout their networks - including network management, fuel conservation initiatives and other cash preservation efforts - there is the very real prospect that carriers will be unable to adjust fully for changes in fuel prices and demand patterns at airports subject to federal caps when combined with a use or lose regulation. Aside from assisting carriers at this critical time, a suspension of the use or lose regulations likely would also have a positive impact on DOT/FAA efforts to reduce congestion and delay nationwide, but in particular in the New York region. With all three major New York‑area airports now capped for congestion reduction purposes, a temporary suspension would allow additional flexibility for carriers to adjust schedules that could further reduce congestion on the ground, in the air, and throughout the national air transportation system. The benefits of this include reduced delay for consumers, both in the air and on the ground. At the same time, this could also benefit airlines through more efficient operations that would require less costly fuel burn leading to reduced emissions and a positive impact on the environment. The carriers seeking this waiver are not opposed to permitting other airlines to add incremental flying in slots where the historical slot holder has temporarily withdrawn service as a result of any relief granted by FAA. Of course, any operating rights temporarily transferred should only be permitted to be scheduled or operated concurrent with any waiver from the applicable regulations or orders (See Footnote 1). In addition, no historical incumbent rights would attach to the temporary operation of the slots by an operator that is not currently a holder of the slots. By: AirTran, American, Delta, Northwest, United and US Airways
FAA-2008-0221 - Operating LImitations at Newark June 5, 2008 Opposition of Virgin America to Request for Waiver of Minimum Slot Usage Requirements We respectfully oppose the May 8, 2008 petition of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, United Airlines, AirTran Airways, and US Airways, to waive current and proposed minimum slot usage requirements for the entire Winter 2008/2009 season at DCA, EWR, JFK, LGA, and ORD because of an increase in fuel prices. For the following reasons, Virgin America submits that the Joint Carriers’ request is anti-consumer, contrary to precedent, and without merit. Accordingly, it should be denied. The steady and protracted increase in fuel prices over the past sixteen months does not justify wholesale waivers of slot minimum usage requirements at five of the most important, high-demand airports in the country, over an entire Winter season. Already, the large percentages of relatively small aircraft operations at these highly congested airports represents a waste of scarce assets. To permit these Joint Carriers to officially retain their slots, when excess demand exists from carriers like Virgin America, would be arbitrary and capricious, inconsistent with the waiver standard and precedent, and bad public policy. Counsel: Pillsbury Winthrop, Kenneth Quinn, 202-663-8898
FAA-2008-0221 - Operating Limitations at Newark June 9, 2008 Re: Letter of Air Transport Association in Support of Waiver of Minimum Slot Usage Requirement The Air Transport Association supports the temporary waiver of minimum slot usage requirements for the Winter 2008/2009 season, as requested by letter dated May 8, 2008 from ATA members AirTran Airways, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways. The need to comply with minimum use requirements, also known as “use-it-or-lose-it” rules, at slot-controlled airports (or airports that the Department of Transportation has proposed subjecting to operating restrictions) could skew service decisions, and even impede the necessary process of finding a rational mix of service and markets to meet the new reality of sharply higher operating costs. As was the case in the months following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, airlines serving these airports need a brief period to assess the longer-term trends in the industry and adjust their schedules and service accordingly. The request for a temporary blanket waiver for the Winter 2008-2009 season (roughly through March, 2009) would allow the affected airlines to focus on long-term stabilization. A stable, financially sound U.S. airline industry serves the interests of the traveling and shipping public by providing the critical air transportation services that drive approximately 10% of GDP and that knit our country together. The joint temporary waiver request will provide a brief respite from what has become an unexpected an extraordinary disruption of the industry, and should not be interpreted as a means of shielding noncompliance with slot use requirements prior to the time the waiver is granted. Moreover, the carriers requesting the waiver have stated that they are not opposed to the temporary transfer of slots that are not used by their holder to other operators for the term of the waiver. Within those parameters, such a waiver would not harm the interests of other airlines or the public Counsel: ATA, David Berg, 202-626-4234 |
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