[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 247 (Thursday, December 27, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73418-73419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-6179]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Notice of Airport Level Designation for Newark Liberty 
International Airport for the Summer 2008 Scheduling Season

AGENCY: Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration 
(FAA).

ACTION: Notice of Schedule Coordination.

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SUMMARY: Under this notice, the FAA announces that Newark Liberty 
International Airport (EWR) has been designated a Level 3 Coordinated 
Airport for the summer 2008 scheduling season under the International 
Air Transport Association (IATA) Worldwide Scheduling Guidelines. This 
notice supercedes the September 24, 2007, notice that designated EWR a 
Level 2 Schedules Facilitated Airport. 72 FR 54317. Based on a recently 
completed capacity analysis, a review of last summer's demand, the 
projections for summer 2008, discussions with carriers regarding future 
schedule plans, and the potential for increased operations at EWR due 
to operating limits at JFK, the FAA has determined that a Level 3 
airport declaration is warranted.
    The FAA's primary constraint is runway capacity, but the Port 
Authority of New York and New Jersey (Port Authority), the airport's 
operator, also will continue to review proposed schedules for gates, 
facility, customs, immigration, or similar groundside constraints. The 
FAA and the Port Authority recognize that separate coordination process 
for runway slots and gate terminal slots is a burden for carriers and, 
therefore, the process is under review in order to facilitate 
communication and reduce the administrative workload. IATA will be 
consulted regarding ``best practices'' in use at other coordinated 
airports.
    EWR delays over the last several years have been among the highest 
in the system. Despite a relatively stable number of daily air traffic 
operations, the airport is experiencing increased congestion and delay 
partly as a result of certain peak hours when demand approaches or 
exceeds the airport's average arrival and departure runway throughput. 
Comparing the period of October 2006 through September 2007 to the same 
period in the previous year, the average daily operations at EWR 
decreased by about one-half percent; the average daily arrivals with 
delays greater than one hour increased 18 percent; and on-time gate 
arrivals within 15 minutes of scheduled time decreased from 63.52 
percent to 61.72 percent. On-time departures within 15 minutes of 
scheduled time declined from 71.95 percent to 69.33 percent. The 
average taxi-out delay remained 28.6 minutes.
    To determine the airport's throughput, the FAA engaged MITRE's 
Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) to review two 
years' worth of operational data for weekdays from September 2006 
through August 2007. The analysis included hourly arrival and departure 
counts and the hourly air traffic control (ATC) established rates for 
those same periods. These rates were combined to develop an 
``adjusted'' capacity number to reflect the airport's operational 
capability. This method compensates for periods when demand during a 
particular hour was below the ATC acceptance rates and also accounts 
for actual operations above ATC rates. For the last twelve months of 
the study period, the average adjusted capacity was 83 operations per 
hour, down almost five percent from the earlier months analyzed. The 
FAA is continuing to review ways to improve the airport's capacity and 
has been engaged in numerous efforts to identify and implement changes 
that would improve the efficiency of the ATC system. For example, as 
part of the FAA's New York Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC), over 77 
initiatives were identified for the New York City area. A number of 
these initiatives will benefit the EWR operations. A full copy of the 
ARC's report to the Secretary of Transpiration is available on the 
FAA's Web site at http://www.faa.gov.
    The FAA's review of air carriers' schedule submissions for summer 
2008 indicated new planned operations in peak hours as well as the 
retiming of operations from less congested to more congested periods. 
About 100 new peak-day flights were requested. Proposed schedules in 
the afternoon and evening period, which were historically high during 
summer 2007, are of the greatest concern. These proposed schedules, if 
implemented, would result in a significant increase of operations at 
EWR and would exceed the airport's optimal rate for multiple, 
consecutive hours. Delays would increase on an exponential basis and 
would likely reach levels that are considered unacceptable to 
passengers, airlines, and other customers.
    Under the Level 2 designation, the FAA began discussing carriers' 
proposed summer 2008 schedules in November at the IATA scheduling 
Conference in Toronto, Canada. The FAA will grant historic status for 
foreign flag air carrier and domestic air carrier operations based on 
their summer 2007 flights if requested for summer 2008. For new 
requests, the agency identified certain periods that would be beyond 
the airport's historic throughput and scheduled levels and asked for 
schedule adjustments from certain carriers to retime operations to 
other periods of the day where capacity is available. In some cases, 
carriers responded by withdrawing their new requests for peak hour 
operations. The FAA is continuing its effort to retime proposed new 
operation out of peak hours because the agency cannot grant the 
requests without causing excessive congestion.
    The FAA plans to finalize summer 2008 schedules with carriers 
within the next few weeks. Even if the FAA were to be fully successful 
in reaching agreement on schedule plans under Level 2 for summer 2008, 
the FAA now believes that an IATA Level 3

[[Page 73419]]

Coordinated Airport designation is warranted to ensure there is no 
exceedance of the level of operations the FAA will allow for summer 
2008. The Level 3 status also will set carrier expectations for future 
coordination needs and for the need to schedule new operations during 
periods when the airport has the available capacity.

ADDRESSES: Any change to schedule information for summer 2008 may be 
submitted by mail to Slot Administration Office, AGC-240, Office of the 
Chief Counsel, 800 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20591; 
facsimile: 202-267-7277; ARINC: DCAYAXD; or by e-mail to: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James W. Tegtmeier, Associate Chief 
Counsel for the Air Traffic Organization, Federal Aviation 
Administration, 800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591; 
telephone number: 202-267-3073.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on December 19, 2007.
James W. Whitlow,
Deputy Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 07-6179 Filed 12-19-07; 1:36 pm]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-M