Order 99-11-4

Midwest Express Airlines, Inc.

Midwest Express's proposed slides will not result in a net increase in the total number of authorized slots at Reagan National during any day. Rather, it will decrease by two the number of operations that have been authorized in the 2100 period and will result in net increases of one authorized operation in each of the 1400 and 1500 periods. No other airline's slot holdings will be affected. And, because Midwest Express will be merely changing the timing of two operations, there will be no net increase in noise impact on the communities surrounding the airport. Thus, the proposal meets all of the statutory requirements described above, including the concern that MWAA raised, i.e., that grant of the application would not result in an increase in the total number of slots per day at Reagan National.

We noted in Order 94-9-49 that our authority to grant exemptions for slot slides at Reagan National is applicable only in limited circumstances to meet the specific needs of carriers holding a limited number of slots at that airport. Midwest Express currently operates only ten Reagan National slots, and it has demonstrated a need for the improved Washington-Milwaukee service that it will implement through the slot slide authorized here. The exemptions will enable Midwest Express to offer such service in both the local Milwaukee-Reagan National market and in connecting markets that Midwest Express serves beyond Milwaukee. For the latter markets, improved service to Reagan National will also strengthen Milwaukee as a competitive alternative hub, particularly for points in the Upper Midwest. Thus, the applicability of our slot exemption authority is appropriate under the exceptional circumstances Midwest Express has presented.

We do not agree with ACAA's assertion that other carriers did not have an opportunity to acquire the slots that Midwest Express obtained, nor do we agree that the slots should be recalled by the FAA and distributed through a lottery at this time. Pursuant to 14 CFR § 93.225, the FAA reserves the right to determine when a sufficient pool of slots is available for lottery.

By:  Bradley Mims

Home | OST Filings by Number | OST Orders and Notices | OST Filings by Carrier
OST Filings by Proceeding | OST Filings by Day | Office of Intl Aviation Filings by Carrier | Office of Intl Filings by Day