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OST-2003-15977 - Colgan Air - Slot Slide at Reagan Washington National
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Colgan Air, Inc. August 18, 2003 OST-03-15977 - Exemption/Slots - Reassignment of Four Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Slots Application for an Exemption | Word Application of Colgan Air d/b/a US Airways Express, in accordance with the provisions of 49 U.S.C. Section 41714(d), requesting an exemption from 14 C.F.R. 93 to authorize the reassignment of four (4) Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport slots currently held by Colgan to different slot times. Colgan’s exemption request stems from its participation in the FAA’s August 12 slot lottery at which it received four (4) DCA slots for use in the 2100 slot hour. The ability to offer the proposed flights will facilitate the economic needs of the Charleston community. In the absence of approval of this exemption request, Colgan will be precluded from offering reasonable flight option and will be forced to offer only late evening service thus denying passengers a convenient schedule including good connections. Counsel: Ungaretti Harris, Edward Faberman, 202-639-7501 OST-03-15968 - ATA Airlines September 2, 2003 Consolidated Answer of American Airlines The Department should not abuse 49 USC 41714(d), which requires a finding of "exceptional" circumstances, by granting the applications at issue here. There is nothing "exceptional" about any of these requests, other than their brazen attempt to create some 13 new peak-hour operations at DCA. If the Department were to abolish all hourly slot limitations at DCA, American would not object. But unless every carrier has the same opportunity to move the slots in their DCA portfolios to any hour of the day, then no carrier should. Counsel: American, Carl Nelson, 202-496-5647, carl.nelson@aa.com Order 03-9-30 Issued and Served September 30, 2003 Order 2003-9-30, the Department grants the separate requests of ATA Airlines, Inc., Spirit Airlines, Inc. (Spirit), Colgan Air, Inc., and Chautauqua Airlines, Inc. to move the operation of slots at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport from the 2100 hour (9:00 p.m.) to various alternative times. Insofar as their claim to "exceptional circumstances," all of the applicants share certain characteristics. All were given priority standing and subsequently awarded DCA slots in the recent FAA slot lottery due to the FAA's determination that each was a new entrant by the FAA's regulatory definitions. As such, even with the award of the 2 100 hour slots, Spirit, Colgan, and Chautauqua have argued they have little or no flexibility to adjust schedules to effectively market services since the 2100 hour slots alone do not permit the establishment of a viable pattern of service. We agree that 2 100 hour slots have little or no utility to a carrier that has no other slots. While other alternatives may exist that could enable these carriers to offer viable service, none are as practical or sure as the approach they have pursued here--that of seeking authority under section 41714(d) to move 2100 hour slots to other available times. Moreover, if a grant of that authority is denied here, carriers may face the choice of either operating their service at a loss or relinquishing the slots to FAA, at least temporarily frustrating the purpose for which the FAA's slot lottery was instituted. Precisely because the flexibility of these limited slot holders is so constrained, their circumstances are exceptional. By: Michael Reynolds |
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