[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 189 (Friday, September 28, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49155-49157]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-21217]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Notice of Submission Deadline for Schedule Information for 
Chicago O'Hare International Airport, John F. Kennedy International 
Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Newark Liberty 
International Airport, and San Francisco International Airport for the 
Summer 2019 Scheduling Season

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

ACTION: Notice of submission deadline.

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SUMMARY: Under this notice, the FAA announces the submission deadline 
of October 4, 2018, for summer 2019 flight schedules at Chicago O'Hare 
International Airport (ORD), John F. Kennedy International Airport 
(JFK), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Newark Liberty 
International Airport (EWR), and San Francisco International Airport 
(SFO). The deadline coincides with the schedule submission deadline for 
the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Slot Conference for 
the summer 2019 scheduling season.

DATES: Schedules must be submitted no later than October 4, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Schedules may be submitted by mail to the Slot 
Administration Office, AGC-200, Office of the Chief Counsel, 800 
Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591; facsimile: 202-267-7277; 
or by email to: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bonnie C. Dragotto, Regulations 
Division, FAA Office of the Chief Counsel, AGC-240, Room 916N, Federal 
Aviation Administration, 800 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 
20591; telephone (202) 267-3808; email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FAA has designated EWR, LAX, ORD, and 
SFO as IATA Level 2 airports \1\ and JFK as an IATA Level 3 airport 
under the Worldwide Slot Guidelines (WSG). The FAA currently limits 
scheduled operations at JFK by Order until October 24, 2020.\2\
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    \1\ These designations will remain effective at these airports 
until the FAA announces a change.
    \2\ Operating Limitations at John F. Kennedy International 
Airport, 73 FR 3510 (Jan. 18, 2008), as amended 83 FR 46865 
(September 17, 2018).
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    The FAA is primarily concerned about scheduled and other regularly 
conducted commercial operations during peak hours, but carriers may 
submit schedule plans for the entire day. At ORD, the peak hours for 
the summer 2019 scheduling season are 0700 to 2100 Central Time (1200 
to 0200 UTC), at LAX and SFO from 0600 to 2300 Pacific Time (1300 to 
0600 UTC), and at EWR and JFK from 0600 to 2300 Eastern Time (1000 to 
0300 UTC). These hours are unchanged from previous scheduling seasons. 
Carriers should submit schedule information in sufficient detail 
including, at minimum, the marketing or operating carrier, flight 
number, scheduled time of operation, frequency, aircraft equipment, and 
effective dates. IATA standard schedule information format and data 
elements for communications at Level 2 and Level 3 airports in the IATA 
Standard Schedules Information Manual (SSIM) Chapter 6 may be used. The 
WSG provides additional information on schedule submissions at Level 2 
and Level 3 airports.
    The U.S. summer scheduling season is from March 31, 2019, through 
October 26, 2019, in recognition of the IATA northern summer scheduling 
period. The FAA understands there may be differences in schedule times 
due to different U.S. daylight saving time dates and will accommodate 
these differences to the extent possible.

General Information for All Airports

    As stated in the WSG, schedule facilitation at a Level 2 airport is 
based on schedule adjustments mutually agreed between the airlines and 
the facilitator; the intent is to avoid exceeding the airport's 
coordination parameters; the concepts of historic precedence and series 
of slots do not apply at Level 2 airports; and the facilitator should 
adjust the smallest number of flights by the least amount of time 
necessary to avoid exceeding the airport's coordination parameters.

[[Page 49156]]

Consistent with the WSG, the success of Level 2 in the U.S. depends on 
the voluntary cooperation of all carriers.
    The FAA considers several factors and priorities as it reviews 
schedule requests at Level 2 airports, which are consistent with the 
WSG, including--services from the previous equivalent season over new 
demand for the same timings, services that are unchanged over services 
that plan to change time or other capacity relevant parameters, 
introduction of year-round services, effective period of operation, 
regularly planned operations over ad hoc operations, and other 
operational factors that may limit a carrier's timing flexibility. In 
addition to applying these Level 2 priorities from the WSG, the U.S. 
Government has adopted a number of measures and procedures to promote 
competition and new entry at U.S. slot controlled and schedule 
facilitated airports.
    At Level 2 airports, the FAA seeks to improve communications with 
carriers and schedule facilitators on potential runway schedule issues 
or terminal and gate issues that may affect the runway times. The FAA 
also seeks to reduce the time that carriers consider proposed offers on 
schedules. Retaining open offers for extended periods of time may delay 
the facilitation process for the airport. Reducing this delay is 
particularly important to allow the FAA to make informed decisions at 
airports where operations in some hours are at or near the scheduling 
limits. The agency recognizes that there are circumstances that may 
require some schedules to remain open. However, the FAA expects to 
substantially complete the process on initial submissions each 
scheduling season within 30 days of the end of the Slot Conference. 
After this time, the agency would confirm the acceptance of proposed 
offers, as applicable, or issue a denial of schedule requests. At Level 
3 airports, the FAA follows the slot offer and acceptance procedures 
set forth in the WSG.
    Slot management in the United States differs from other countries 
that follow the WSG in some respects. In the United States, the FAA is 
responsible for facilitation and coordination of runway access for 
takeoffs and landings at Level 2 and Level 3 airports; however, the 
airport authority or its designee is responsible for facilitation and 
coordination of terminal/gate/airport facility access. The process with 
the individual airports for terminal access and other airport services 
is separate from, and in addition to, the FAA schedule review based on 
runway capacity. Approval from both the FAA and the airport authority 
for runway and airport availability, respectively, is necessary before 
implementing schedule plans. Contact information for Level 2 and Level 
3 airports is available at http://www.iata.org/policy/slots/Pages/slot-guidelines.aspx.
    Generally, the FAA uses average hourly runway capacity throughput 
for airports and performance metrics in its schedule reviews at Level 2 
airports and for the scheduling limits at Level 3 airports.\3\ The FAA 
also considers other factors that can affect operations, such as 
capacity changes due to runway, taxiway, or other airport construction, 
air traffic control procedural changes, airport surface operations, and 
historical or projected flight delays and congestion.
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    \3\ The FAA typically determines an airport's average adjusted 
runway capacity or throughput for Level 2 and Level 3 airports by 
reviewing hourly data on the arrival and departure rates that air 
traffic control indicates could be accepted for that hour, commonly 
known as ``called'' rates. We also review the actual number of 
arrivals and departures that operated in the same hour. Generally, 
the FAA uses the higher of the two numbers, called or actual, for 
identifying trends and schedule review purposes. Some dates are 
excluded from analysis, such as during periods when extended airport 
closures or construction could affect capacity.
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    Finally, the FAA notes that the schedule information submitted by 
carriers to the FAA may be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA). The WSG also provides for release of 
information at certain stages of slot coordination and schedule 
facilitation. In general, once it acts, the FAA may release information 
on slot allocation or similar slot transactions or schedule information 
reviewed as part of the schedule facilitation process. The FAA does not 
expect that practice to change and most slot and schedule information 
would not be exempt from release under FOIA. The FAA recognizes that 
some airlines may submit information on schedule plans that is not 
available to the public and may be considered by the carrier to be 
proprietary. Carriers that submit slot or schedule information deemed 
proprietary should clearly mark such information accordingly. The FAA 
will take the necessary steps to protect properly designated 
information to the extent allowable by law.

JFK Schedules

    The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) plans 
construction on JFK Runway 13L/31R that will close the runway from 
April 1, 2019, through November 15, 2019. The FAA will develop an 
operational ``playbook'' for runway configurations that would be used 
under various weather and operating conditions while Runway 13L/31R is 
closed. The FAA worked with MITRE's Center for Advanced Aviation System 
Development on modeling the expected runway configuration and the 
results indicate that average arrival delays could increase modestly 
while departure delays would remain close to current levels or decrease 
due to runway configurations that have higher departure and lower 
arrival capacities. As with the three prior runway construction 
projects and closures, delays in the early and late months of the 
summer 2019 scheduling season are projected to increase over the 
typical delays in those months but remain below the average delays in 
the peak June to August months.
    The FAA will work closely with the airport and operators to 
efficiently manage operations during construction. The PANYNJ meets 
regularly with airlines and other stakeholders to discuss construction 
plans and consults with the FAA and local air traffic control 
facilities to minimize operational impacts. Carriers should contact the 
PANYNJ for the latest information on airport construction plans. The 
FAA New York District and the New York Area Program Integration Office 
also holds a regular Delay Initiatives Meeting that addresses 
construction and operational plans. These local meetings are the best 
sources of current construction-related information to assist in 
planning schedules and operations.

EWR Schedules

    The FAA is continuing to monitor operations and delays at EWR and 
to identify ways to improve performance metrics and operational 
efficiency, and achieve delay reductions in a Level 2 environment. 
Demand for access to EWR and the New York City area remains high. 
Recent requests for flights at EWR have exceeded the scheduling limits 
in the 8 a.m. and 1300-2159 local hours. The FAA has advised carriers 
in prior seasons that it would not be able to accommodate all requests 
for new or retimed operations in peak hours and worked with carriers to 
identify times that were available. In some limited cases, carriers 
were able to swap with other airlines for their preferred times in the 
peak for winter 2018. Carriers may continue to seek swaps in order to 
operate within the peak. However, the FAA also continues to seek the 
voluntary cooperation of all carriers operating in peak hours to retime 
operations out of the peak to improve performance at EWR.
    For the summer 2019 season, the hourly scheduling limit remains at 
79

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operations and 43 operations per half-hour. To help with a balance 
between arrivals and departures, the maximum number of scheduled 
arrivals or departures, respectively, is 43 in an hour and 24 in a 
half-hour. This would allow some higher levels of operations in certain 
periods (not to exceed the hourly limits) and some recovery from lower 
demand in adjacent periods. The FAA will accept flights above the 
limits if the flights were operated on a regular basis in summer 2018, 
but again, the FAA seeks cooperation of carriers to retime operations, 
to the extent feasible, out of the peak period. Additionally, the FAA 
will consider whether demand exceeds the limits in adjacent periods and 
consider average demand before determining whether there is 
availability for new flights in a particular period. However, the 
operational performance of the airport is unlikely to improve unless 
peak demand is reduced and schedules remain within the airport's 
arrival and departure limits.
    The FAA notes that despite efforts to facilitate voluntary 
scheduling cooperation at EWR, and reductions in the hourly scheduling 
limits,\4\ average demand for summer 2018 in the afternoon and evening 
hours remains at 81 operations per hour as it was in summer 2017. There 
are periods when the demand in half-hours or consecutive half-hours 
exceeds the optimum runway capacity and the scheduling limits in this 
notice. The imbalance of scheduled arrivals and departures in certain 
periods has contributed to increased congestion and delays when the 
demand exceeds the arrival or departure rates. In particular, retiming 
a minimal number of arrivals in the early afternoon hours from the 1400 
local hour to the 1300 and 1200 hours could have significant delay 
reduction benefits and help preserve the Level 2 designation at EWR.
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    \4\ The FAA has reduced the hourly scheduling limits from 81 per 
hour to 79 and effective with the winter 2018/2019 season, applied 
additional half-hour and arrival and departure limits. The FAA 
explained that operations approved previously at the higher limits 
and operated in the prior season would be accepted by the FAA even 
if they were above the limits, but new flights would not be approved 
above the current scheduling limits. The FAA continues to encourage 
carriers to retime flights to less congested periods to keep 
operations at or below the new scheduling limit to improve 
performance at the airport.
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    Based on historical demand, the FAA anticipates the 0700 to 0859 
and 1330 to 2159 periods to be unavailable for new flights. Consistent 
with the WSG, carriers should be prepared to adjust schedules to meet 
the hourly limits in order to minimize potential congestion and delay. 
Carriers are again reminded that runway approval must be obtained from 
the FAA in addition to any requirements for approval from airport 
terminal or other facilities prior to operation.
    The PANYNJ also plans construction on EWR Runway 11/29 during 2019. 
The plans currently include night and weeknight closures and a 12-day 
full closure in late August. The FAA will assess the potential 
operational impacts and any necessary mitigations once the construction 
plans are finalized. As indicated for the JFK runway construction, the 
PANYNJ is the best source of information on the construction and FAA 
meetings such as the Delay Initiative Meeting is the best source for 
operational plans.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on September 24, 2018.
Jeffrey Planty,
Deputy Vice President, System Operations Services.
[FR Doc. 2018-21217 Filed 9-27-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P