[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 74 (Wednesday, April 16, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20732-20734]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-8106]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

[Docket No. FAA-2006-25755]


Operating Limitations at New York LaGuardia Airport; Notice of 
Order

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed amendment to order; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing 
amending the Order Limiting Scheduled Operations at New York LaGuardia 
that published in the Federal Register on December 27, 2006. This 
amendment, if adopted, would reduce the number of reservations 
available for unscheduled operations from six per hour to three per 
hour.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rebecca MacPherson, Assistant Chief 
Counsel for Regulations, Office of the Chief Counsel, AGC-200, Federal 
Aviation Administration, 800 Independence Avenue, SW.,

[[Page 20733]]

Washington, DC 20591; telephone (202) 267-3073.

DATES: The FAA invites interested persons to submit written comments on 
this proposal by no later than May 1, 2008 in Docket FAA-2006-25755. We 
will give full consideration to comments received before we issue a 
final modification to the Order. You may send comments using any of the 
following methods:
     DOT Docket Web site: Go to http://dms.dot.gov and follow 
the instructions for sending your comments electronically.
     Mail: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket 
Operations, M-30, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., Washington, 
DC 20590.
     Fax: (202) 493-2251.
     Hand Delivery: West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 
U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., 
Washington, DC, 20590 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except for Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FAA proposes to modify its December 12, 
2006 Order, (the Order) that temporarily limits flight operations at 
New York's LaGuardia Airport (LaGuardia), pending its promulgation of a 
long-term regulation to manage congestion at the airport. We propose to 
reduce the number of unscheduled operations from six per hour to three. 
These proposed amendments would not affect scheduled operations.

I. Background

    Due to LaGuardia's limited runway capacity, the airport cannot 
accommodate the number of flights that airlines would like to operate 
without causing significant congestion. The FAA has long limited the 
number of arrivals and departures at LaGuardia during peak demand 
periods through the promulgation and implementation of the High Density 
Rule (HDR).\1\ By statute enacted in April 2000, the HDR's 
applicability to LaGuardia operations terminated as of January 1, 
2007.\2\ On August 29, 2006, the FAA published a notice of proposed 
rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register in anticipation of the HDR's 
expiration. 71 FR 51360. In the NPRM, the agency proposed another 
congestion management program for LaGuardia, which, among other things, 
would continue to limit the number of scheduled and unscheduled 
operations at LaGuardia. Because the rulemaking was not completed 
before January 1, 2007, the FAA, after notice and comment, adopted 
interim operational limitations on LaGuardia flights through the Order. 
71 FR 77854 (December 27, 2006). Without the limits contained in the 
Order, the FAA projected that severe congestion-related delays would 
occur as a result of excessive demand at LaGuardia, leading to delays 
both at LaGuardia and at other airports throughout the National 
Airspace System.
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    \1\ See 49 CFR part 93, subpart K.
    \2\ Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century 
(AIR-21), P.L. 106-181 (April 5, 2000), 49 U.S.C. 41715(a)(2).
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    As part of that Order, the FAA imposed a reservation system for 
unscheduled operations at the airport. Specifically, the FAA provided 
that it would accommodate up to six unscheduled reservations per hour 
during the hours the airport was capped as long as the operators had 
secured a reservation with Air Traffic Control. The FAA has tentatively 
decided to reduce that number of available reservations from six to 
three per hour. Currently, the six hourly reservations held for 
unscheduled operations are not fully utilized.
    The FAA and MITRE's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development 
(CAASD) has reviewed data on air traffic operations at LaGuardia for 
calendar year 2007 to determine the level of unscheduled operations at 
the airport. In 2007 there was an average of 36 weekday operations at 
the airport from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., the period the Order is in effect. 
During the peak hours, unscheduled operations averaged three per hour.
    The FAA published an Order imposing a cap on operations at John F. 
Kennedy International Airport on January 18, 2008. That order took 
effect March 30, 2008. In addition, the FAA intends to publish an order 
imposing a cap on operations at Newark Liberty International Airport 
later this spring. In conjunction with those two orders, the FAA 
intends to restrict the number of unscheduled operations, other than 
helicopters, at both airports. The FAA has not proposed to restrict 
operations at Teterboro.
    The FAA is concerned that restricting unscheduled operations at JFK 
and Newark could encourage operators to move their unscheduled 
operations from those airports to LaGuardia. Delay numbers at LaGuardia 
for 2007 were among the highest in the country. The FAA is concerned 
that if additional unscheduled operations move to LaGuardia, those 
numbers could be even higher. To ensure that this does not happen, the 
FAA has tentatively decided to reduce the allowable number of 
unscheduled operations from six to three per hour.
    Additional reservations could be made available for unscheduled 
operations depending on the weather, runway configuration or less than 
anticipated delays. In such instances the FAA would likely allow more 
than three unscheduled operations in a given hour. It is unlikely that 
the FAA would know more than eight hours in advance whether additional 
capacity is available. If additional capacity is available, 
reservations would be allocated through the Airport Reservation 
Office's e-CVRS reservation system and not through the local air 
traffic control facilities.

 II. Proposed Amendment to the Order

    With respect to unscheduled flight operations at LaGuardia, the FAA 
proposes to adopt the following measures:
    1. The final order applies to all operators of unscheduled flights, 
except helicopter operations, at LaGuardia from 6 a.m. through 9:59 
p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday and from 12 noon through 9:59 
p.m., Eastern Time, Sunday.
    2. The final Order takes effect on January 1, 2007, and will expire 
at the first change of the scheduling season occurring no less than 90 
days after the issuance of a final rule regulating congestion at 
LaGuardia.
    3. No person can operate an aircraft other than a helicopter to or 
from LaGuardia unless the operator has received, for that unscheduled 
operation, a reservation that is assigned by the David J. Hurley Air 
Traffic Control System Command Center's Airport Reservation Office 
(ARO). Additional information on procedures for obtaining a reservation 
will be available via the Internet at http://www.fly.faa.gov/ecvrs.
    4. Three (3) reservations are available per hour for unscheduled 
operations at LaGuardia. The ARO will assign reservations on a 30-
minute basis.
    5. The ARO receives and processes all reservation requests. 
Reservations are assigned on a ``first-come, first-served'' basis, 
determined as of the time that the ARO receives the request. A 
cancellation of any reservation that will not be used as assigned would 
be required.
    6. Filing a request for a reservation does not constitute the 
filing of an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan, as separately 
required by regulation. After the reservation is obtained, an IFR 
flight plan can be filed. The IFR flight plan must include the 
reservation number in the ``remarks'' section.

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    7. Air Traffic Control will accommodate declared emergencies 
without regard to reservations. Non-emergency flights in direct support 
of national security, law enforcement, military aircraft operations, or 
public-use aircraft operations will be accommodated above the 
reservation limits with the prior approval of the Vice President, 
System Operations Services, Air Traffic Organization. Procedures for 
obtaining the appropriate reservation for such flights are available 
via the Internet at http://www.fly.faa.gov/ecvrs.
    8. Notwithstanding the limits in paragraph 4, if the Air Traffic 
Organization determines that air traffic control, weather, and capacity 
conditions are favorable and significant delay is not likely, the FAA 
can accommodate additional reservations over a specific period. Unused 
operating authorizations can also be temporarily made available for 
unscheduled operations. Reservations for additional operations are 
obtained through the ARO.
    9. Reservations cannot be bought, sold, or leased.

III. Request for Comments

    The FAA invites all interested persons to submit written comments 
on the proposals described in this order by filing their written views 
in Docket FAA-2006-25755 on or before May 1, 2008. The FAA does not 
intend this proposal to address the longer-term issues that will be 
considered in the related proposed rulemaking. Therefore, any 
submissions to the current docket should focus on the issues specified 
in this proposed order.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on April 10, 2008.
Rebecca B. MacPherson,
Assistant Chief Counsel for Regulations, Federal Aviation 
Administration.
 [FR Doc. E8-8106 Filed 4-15-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P