[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 10 (Thursday, January 15, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2646-2648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-817]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

[Docket No. FAA-2006-25755]


Operating Limitations at New York's LaGuardia Airport; Notice of 
Order

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of Amendment to Order.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is amending its 
December 12, 2006 Order, which temporarily capped the scheduled 
operations at New York's LaGuardia Airport (LaGuardia) pending the 
implementation of a longer-term regulation to manage congestion there. 
In particular, we are amending the Order to move toward an hourly limit 
of 71 operations from 6 a.m. through 9:59 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday 
through Friday, and 12 noon through 9:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on Sunday. 
To move toward this new hourly limit, we do not through this amendment 
force air carriers to relinquish Operating Authorizations at the 
airport. Instead, the FAA will accept voluntary flight reductions for 
the duration of the Order, whereupon the FAA will retire the 
surrendered Operating Authorizations until an hourly average of 71 
scheduled operations is achieved. In the event that the current final 
rule takes effect, that rule would impose a reduction in scheduled 
service using the air carriers' base of operations during the week of 
September 28, 2008. The FAA published that rule on October 10, 2008, 
and it is presently stayed pending judicial review. If it proves 
necessary to require a reduction in scheduled operations through a 
future amendment of the Order, air carriers that voluntarily surrender 
Operating Authorizations under this initiative will be credited with 
voluntary schedule reductions that they commit to on or before February 
2, 2009.
    The FAA will accept voluntarily offered schedule reductions through 
February 2, 2009, and expects air carriers to suspend service at 
LaGuardia under this arrangement on or before May 31, 2009. The FAA 
separately extended the Order's expiration until 11:59 p.m., Eastern 
Time, on October 24, 2009.\1\
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    \1\ 74 FR 845 (Jan. 8, 2009).
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    If you wish to review the background documents or comments received 
in relation to this amendment, you may go to http://www.regulations.gov 
at any time and follow the online instructions for accessing the 
electronic docket. You may also go to the U.S. Department of 
Transportation's Docket Operations in Room W12-140 on the ground floor 
of the West Building at 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, 
between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

DATES: This amendment is effective on the date of publication.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gerry Shakley, System Operations 
Services, Air Traffic Organization; telephone--(202) 267-9424; e-mail_
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The FAA briefly outlined the history of congestion at LaGuardia and 
the FAA's management of the problem in the proposal for these 
amendments.\2\ The problem, stated succinctly, is that the current cap 
of 75 scheduled operations per hour is very close to the maximum 
throughput for LaGuardia's two-runway configuration in optimal 
meteorological and operational conditions. If there are delays due to 
adverse weather or other operational reasons, a limit of 75 scheduled 
operations simply does not permit the airport a significant opportunity 
to recover, often consigning the airport to delays for the rest of the 
day.
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    \2\ 73 FR 79,201 (Dec. 24, 2008).
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    The FAA's experience in managing congestion at other airports 
reflects that scheduled service short of maximum airport throughput 
permits needed flexibility to restore the schedule in many instances 
when the airport falls behind the published schedules. The FAA's 
proposal and this amendment are intended to give LaGuardia an 
additional margin of operational flexibility, providing increased 
reliability for passengers and others who depend on efficient air 
transportation. Depending on the air carriers' response to this 
initiative, LaGuardia passengers and air carriers can expect varying 
levels of relief from congestion-related delay.

II. Discussion of the Written Submissions

A. An Hourly Cap of 71 Scheduled Operations at LaGuardia Strikes an 
Appropriate Balance Between Airport Throughput and Operational 
Efficiency

    The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (Port Authority) 
contends that evidence is lacking that the currently hourly cap of 75 
scheduled operations is too high. Instead, the Port Authority advocates 
that the FAA focus exclusively on operational improvements that might 
incrementally increase the maximum throughput of the airport's two-
runway configuration.
    Contrary to the Port Authority's intimation, the FAA continues to 
advance short-, intermediate-, and long-term initiatives that will 
improve LaGuardia's operating efficiency. The FAA achieved many such 
initiatives in 2008 and will field many more in 2009. There are limits 
to the gains that can be achieved at LaGuardia, given the airport's 
physical constraints, however. Over the near term while the Order 
remains in effect, these operational improvements will not make an 
hourly rate of 75 scheduled operations consistently achievable on an 
average day. Accordingly, the FAA determined that a modest, voluntary 
operational cut

[[Page 2647]]

merited enough consideration to solicit the public's comments.
    The Port Authority also asserts that LaGuardia's on-time 
performance has recently improved, negating the need for a reduction in 
scheduled operations. In particular, the Port Authority points to the 
airport's performance in 2008, which was slightly better than its 
performance in 2007.
    LaGuardia's on-time performance in 2007 was the airport's second 
worst performance in its history, falling only behind 2000, when 
operations at LaGuardia were nearly unconstrained. As a result, a 
modest improvement in 2008, while noteworthy, does not make the airport 
objectively efficient. Indeed, the comments received on the FAA's 
proposal do not bear out the Port Authority's assertion. None of the 
air carrier and passenger interest commenters expressed satisfaction 
with LaGuardia's current performance. To the contrary, such commenters 
uniformly expressed at least general support for the FAA effort to 
improve LaGuardia's operational efficiency through operational 
reductions. Moreover, one air carrier expressed concern that the FAA's 
effort to trim LaGuardia to 71 hourly scheduled operations does not cut 
deeply enough. The FAA is satisfied that its proposal to reduce 
scheduled operations at the airport through the end of the Order is 
appropriate.\3\
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    \3\ The Port Authority also notes that, in contrast to the FAA's 
proposal, the FAA's 2004 airport benchmark report concluded that 75 
scheduled operations per hour was within an appropriate range for 
LaGuardia. As American Airlines observes in its supplemental 
comments, LaGuardia's performance receded markedly after 2004 before 
improving modestly in 2008.
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B. The Suggested Variations on the FAA's Proposal Would Have 
Undesirable Consequences

    Three air carrier commenters--Delta Air Lines, U.S. Airways, and 
Midwest Airlines--contend that adjustments to the FAA's proposal might 
generate additional operational reductions. Among the alternatives, one 
or more of these carriers suggest a temporary waiver of the Order's 
use-or-lose provisions for the duration of the Order. They also suggest 
that the FAA state that it could return the Operating Authorizations to 
the air carrier that surrenders it at or before the conclusion of the 
Order.
    The FAA has rarely afforded air carriers a temporary waiver of the 
use-or-lose requirements associated with the operating authority at 
capacity-constrained airports. The rare instances have typically 
resulted from unpredictable circumstances that make it unreasonable to 
expect usage at or above the minimum 80% threshold. The problem with 
such a program in the present context is that there is no simple way to 
limit its effect with any precision. In an environment in which many 
air carriers may be interested in initiating service at LaGuardia, the 
most problematic result could be an underutilization of the existing 
airport capacity coupled with an inability to permit new entrant 
service. This result, too, would be an inefficient use of airport 
capacity and perhaps the only result that would be worse than 
overutilization.
    The suggestion that the FAA should promise to return the 
surrendered Operating Authorization to the surrendering air carriers is 
equally problematic. Most or all the air carrier and passenger interest 
commenters recognize that a reduction in the hourly cap at LaGuardia is 
necessary to reduce congestion-related delay. The airport's delay 
statistics reflect that it is significantly overscheduled, and the air 
carriers would ideally participate proportionally in correcting the 
situation without any promise of future enrichment. If the FAA must 
force reductions in service at a later date, it will do so; however, it 
would be disingenuous at this point to permit an impression that 
LaGuardia will soon return to 75 scheduled operations per hour.
    Delta Air Lines also suggests that, in lieu of the proposed 
reduction in scheduled operations, the FAA should make further 
reductions in the hourly operations of unscheduled operations. The FAA 
recently halved, from 6 to 3, the number of hourly Operating 
Authorizations available for unscheduled operations at LaGuardia during 
peak hours.\4\ We do not agree that a further reduction in unscheduled 
operations is appropriate at this time.
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    \4\ 73 FR 48,428 (Aug. 19, 2008).
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C. The FAA Anticipates That Any Voluntary Reductions Under the Order 
Could Be Credited Toward a Future, Required Schedule Reduction at 
LaGuardia

    American Airlines proposes that the FAA should credit an air 
carrier with any voluntary reductions the carrier makes in its 
scheduled operations in the event that a future mandatory schedule 
reduction at LaGuardia is necessary. Delta Air Lines opposes the 
suggestion.
    The final rule related to scheduled operations at LaGuardia, which 
is currently stayed pending judicial review, called for a reduction in 
scheduled operations at LaGuardia to 71 per hour. If the relevant 
portion of the final rule ultimately goes into effect, the FAA's 
proposal to amend the Order noted that the rule would draw such 
reductions from each air carrier's base of operations at LaGuardia 
during the week of September 28, 2008. This provision of the rule would 
effectively restore the operations voluntarily discontinued under this 
amendment for the purpose of the withdrawal required by the October 10, 
2008, final rule.
    In the event that the portion of the October 10 rule reducing 
scheduled operations at LaGuardia does not go into effect, however, it 
remains possible that the FAA will further extend the duration of this 
Order and propose a mandatory mechanism to reduce the hourly scheduled 
operations at LaGuardia. Should mandatory operational reductions occur 
under a future amendment to this Order, any air carrier that 
voluntarily reduces its scheduled operations under this amendment to 
the Order will receive credit for the voluntary reductions that it 
takes now. Should a future reduction in LaGuardia's scheduled 
operations take place under a new rulemaking action, the FAA also 
anticipates that credit for an air carrier's current, voluntary 
schedule reductions would be afforded there, as well. The FAA 
recognizes that to do otherwise would tend to discourage air carriers 
from voluntarily contributing to an undertaking that the air carrier 
commenters agree will bring a needed improvement to the efficient 
operation of the airport.

III. The Final Amendment

    The FAA is amending paragraph A.1 of the Order's ordering language 
to reflect that 71 hourly Operating Authorizations are available for 
scheduled service during the specified peak operating hours at 
LaGuardia. In order to move from the current level of scheduled service 
toward the reduced level, the FAA will accept from air carriers 
voluntary reductions in scheduled service at LaGuardia. We will retire 
the surrendered Operating Authorizations we receive until we attain the 
new average hourly rate of scheduled service. To preserve antitrust 
principles during the voluntary reduction process, a carrier's 
identification of Operating Authorizations for voluntary reduction may 
not be contingent on specific flight reductions made by other carriers.
    As we originally proposed, if there is a reduction in scheduled 
service below an average of 71 hourly operations, the FAA may elect to 
reallocate Operating Authorizations in order to maintain an

[[Page 2648]]

hourly average of 71 scheduled operations. In reaching and maintaining 
this level, the FAA will retire Operating Authorizations in the order 
in which the air carriers' commitments to reduce service are received 
and will notify an air carrier if any Operating Authorization that it 
is voluntarily offering to relinquish could be subject to reallocation. 
The FAA also notes that paragraphs A.6 and A.7 of the ordering 
paragraphs related to minimum usage requirements and the associated 
reallocation principles continue to apply to all Operating 
Authorizations that are not surrendered to the FAA and retired.
    In order to receive credit for the voluntary reduction in the 
future, an air carrier must present its offer to reduce scheduled 
service at LaGuardia no later than February 2, 2009. If an air carrier 
wishes to offer a voluntary reduction in scheduled service at 
LaGuardia, an authorized representative of the carrier must contact the 
individual identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document. In addition, air carriers must return all voluntarily 
surrendered Operating Authorizations to the FAA no later than May 31, 
2009.
    Accordingly, paragraph A.1 of the FAA's December 27, 2006 order 
limiting operations at LaGuardia, as previously amended, is amended as 
follows:
    1. The final Order governs scheduled arrivals and departures, 
except helicopters, 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. Seventy-one (71) Operating Authorizations are 
available per hour and will be assigned by the FAA on a 30-minute 
basis. The FAA will permit additional, existing operations above this 
threshold; however, the FAA will retire Operating Authorizations that 
are surrendered to the FAA, withdrawn for non-use, or unassigned during 
each affected hour until the number of Operating Authorizations in that 
hour reaches seventy-one (71).

    Issued in Washington, DC, on January 12, 2009.
Kerry B. Long,
Chief Counsel, Federal Aviation Administration.
 [FR Doc. E9-817 Filed 1-14-09; 8:45 am]
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