FAA Docket for September 15, 2003
Updated:
| Applications and Petitions:
Comair - LGA Slots Answers and Replies: AirTran - LGA Slots (American/Continental/Delta/United) Orders and Notices: None Rules and Regulations: None Grant of Petitions: None |
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AirTran Airways, Inc. FAA-03-15925 - Exemption - LGA Slots
September 15, 2003 AirTran's petition should be denied. AirTran fails to mention the fact that in 2000, congestion at LGA had created such a dependability crisis at that airport, and in turn throughout the national air transportation system, that the FAA imposed an LGA slot lottery to cap LGA's scheduled operations at 75 per hour. By its petition, AirTran is seeking to evade the FAA's decision, and instead have the FAA simply create 10 special slots without regard to the cap. Counsel: American, Carl Nelson, 202-496-5647, carl.nelson@aa.com
Setpember 15, 2003 Answer of Continental Airlines AirTran is attempting to parlay temporary utilization of slots it received as a result of FAA's waiver of the use-or-lose rules for the summer 2003 schedule into a permanent slot award without qualifying under the statutory and regulatory requirements applicable to such requests. Because AirTran's request fails to comply with applicable standards, FAA must deny AirTran's petition for an exemption. Counsel: Continental and Crowell & Moring, Bruce Keiner, 202-624-2615
September 15, 2003 Given the continuing suspension of statutorily-authorized AIR-21 services, the FAA should not entertain any request for new slot exemptions -particularly for non-qualifying large jet operations -- prior to allowing Delta to restore the previously-authorized AIR-21 exemption service that the Delta Connection carriers were forced to discontinue. AirTran's request for six new slot exemptions, and to make permanent its four temporary slot exemptions -which are bereft of any legal justification -- should not be given priority over Delta's request to restore service it was forced to cut back. Counsel: Delta and Shaw Pittman, Robert Cohn, 202-663-8060
September 15, 2003 The slot limitations currently in place at LGA were adopted for compelling public interest reasons. So long as LGA operates under these capacity constraints, all carriers, including AirTran, will have a limited ability to introduce new or increased service at LGA to accommodate consumer demand. As there is no statutory or regulatory basis on which the FAA would be justified in singling out AirTran for the creation of extraordinary slot exemptions at LGA, AirTran's petition should be denied. Counsel: United and Wilmer Cutler, Jeffrey Manley, 202-663-6670, jeffrey.manley@wilmer.com
Recent FAA Slot Dockets:
FAA-03- Allocation of LGA Slots (Regional Jet Service) September 15, 2003 Application for Slots at LaGuardia Recently, AirTran Airways, Inc. and Spirit Airlines, Inc. have petitioned the FAA for eighteen exemption slots to be allocated outside established lottery procedures. As explained in detail in Delta's answer in Docket FAA-03-15925 neither AirTran nor Spirit are authorized to receive any more exemption slots under AIR-21 -- or any other statutory or regulatory provision. Moreover, to the extent that the FAA determines that any additional exemption slots can be awarded at LaGuardia above and beyond those available under the administrative cap, the FAA is duty-bound to allocate those slots to qualified AIR-21 carriers, such as Comair -- that has already received valid LaGuardia slot exemptions issued by the Secretary of Transportation. Comair requests allocation of any additional operating opportunities as may be deemed available by FAA to enable the carriers to conduct previously-authorized AIR-21 exemption services at LaGuardia. Counsel: Delta and Shaw Pittman, Robert Cohn, 202-663-8060 |
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