[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 189 (Monday, October 4, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54782-54784]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-21675]


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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 2022 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 7, 2021, for Summer 2022 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).

DATES: Schedules should be submitted by October 7, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Schedules may be submitted to the Slot Administration Office 
by email to: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Al Meilus, Manager, Slot 
Administration, AJR-G, Federal Aviation Administration, 800 
Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591; telephone (202) 267-2822; 
email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document provides routine notice to 
carriers serving capacity-constrained airports in the United States, 
including 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). In particular, this notice announces the 
deadline for carriers to submit schedules for the Summer 2022 
scheduling season. The FAA deadline coincides with the schedule 
submission deadline established in the International Air Transport 
Association (IATA) Calendar of Coordination Activities.

General Information for All Airports

    The FAA has designated EWR, LAX, ORD, and SFO as IATA Level 2 
airports \1\ subject to a schedule review process premised upon 
voluntary cooperation. The FAA has designated JFK as an IATA Level 3 
airport consistent with the Worldwide Slot Guidelines (WSG), now 
generally known as the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG).\2\ The 
FAA currently limits scheduled operations at JFK by order that expires 
on October 29, 2022.\3\ The Summer 2022 scheduling season is from March 
27, 2022, through October 29, 2022, in recognition of the IATA summer 
scheduling period. Notwithstanding that carriers may presently face 
uncertainty about their international operations in light of 
coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), carriers should plan and submit 
their schedules under the assumption that no relief will be granted at 
Level 2 and Level 3 airports during the Summer 2022 scheduling 
season.\4\ The FAA and the Office of the Secretary will continue to 
monitor industry developments closely and will announce any possible 
COVID-19-related relief, if it is deemed necessary, in a separate 
notice. Any possible relief for the Summer 2022 scheduling season and 
any possible action to alter the established rules and policies for 
slot management and schedule facilitation in the United States are not 
within the scope of this notice. The FAA does, however, understand the 
need for carriers to plan in advance with as much certainty as possible 
regarding the applicable regulatory and procedural framework. As the 
industry gradually recovers, new entrant and other carriers have 
commenced some operations using capacity that was not being operated by 
the carriers having historic precedence to that capacity under the 
waiver policy. The DOT/FAA seeks to facilitate all segments of the 
industry's recovery from the pandemic and ensure that the 
transportation needs of the American people are efficiently met, 
especially during the economic recovery. Therefore, carriers should not 
assume further relief will be made available for the Summer 2022 
scheduling season.
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    \1\ These designations remain effective until the FAA announces 
a change in the Federal Register.
    \2\ The FAA generally applies the WSG to the extent there is no 
conflict with U.S. law or regulation. The FAA is reviewing recent 
substantive amendments to the WSG adopted in edition 10. The FAA 
recognizes the WSG has been replaced by the WASG edition 1 effective 
June 1, 2020. While the FAA is considering whether to implement 
certain changes in the United States, it will continue to apply WSG 
edition 9.
    \3\ Operating Limitations at John F. Kennedy International 
Airport, 73 FR 3510 (Jan. 18, 2008), as most recently extended 85 FR 
58258 (Sep. 18, 2020). The slot coordination parameters for JFK are 
set forth in this Order.
    \4\ For additional information on COVID-19 impacts at designated 
IATA Level 2 and 3 airports in the United States and actions taken 
by the FAA to preserve stability through the Summer 2021 scheduling 
season, see FAA Policy Statement: Limited, Conditional Extension of 
COVID-19 Related Relief for the Summer 2021 Scheduling Season, 
Docket No. FAA-2020-0862 (Jan. 14, 2021). See also Notice of 
proposed extension of a limited, conditional waiver of the minimum 
slot usage requirement for all international operations. 86 FR 52114 
(Sep. 20, 2021).
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    The FAA is primarily concerned about scheduled and other regularly 
conducted commercial operations during designated hours, but carriers 
may submit schedule plans for the entire day. The designated hours for 
the Summer 2022 scheduling season are: At EWR and JFK from 0600 to 2300 
Eastern Time (1000 to 0300 UTC), at LAX and SFO from 0600 to 2300 
Pacific Time (1300 to 0600 UTC), and at ORD from 0600 to 2100 Central 
Time (1100 to 0200 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. Some carriers at JFK

[[Page 54783]]

manage and track slots through FAA-assigned Slot ID numbers 
corresponding to an arrival or departure slot in a particular half-hour 
on a particular day of week and date. The FAA has a similar voluntary 
process for tracking schedules at EWR with Reference IDs, and certain 
carriers are managing their schedules accordingly. These are primarily 
U.S. and Canadian carriers that have the highest frequencies and 
considerable schedule changes throughout the season and can benefit 
from a simplified exchange of information not dependent on full flight 
details. Carriers are encouraged to submit schedule requests at those 
airports using Slot or Reference IDs.
    As stated in the WSG, schedule facilitation at a Level 2 airport is 
based on the following: (1) Schedule adjustments are mutually agreed 
upon between the carriers and the facilitator; (2) the intent is to 
avoid exceeding the airport's coordination parameters; (3) the concepts 
of historic precedence and series of slots do not apply at Level 2 
airports; although WSG recommends giving priority to approved services 
that plan to operate unchanged from the previous equivalent season at 
Level 2 airports, and (4) the facilitator should adjust the smallest 
number of flights by the least amount of time necessary to avoid 
exceeding the airport's coordination parameters. Consistent with the 
WSG, the success of Level 2 in the United States depends on the 
voluntary cooperation of carriers.
    The FAA considers several factors and priorities as it reviews 
schedule and slot requests at Level 2 and Level 3 airports, which are 
consistent with the WSG, including--historic slots or 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 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.
    Consistent with the limited, conditional extension of COVID-19 
related relief for the Summer 2021 scheduling season,\5\ slots or 
schedules operated as approved on a non-historic or an ad hoc basis in 
Summer 2021 will be given priority over new requests for the same 
timings in Summer 2022, subject to capacity availability and consistent 
with established rules and policies in effect in the United States. 
This priority applies to slot or schedule requests for Summer 2022, 
which are comparable in timing, frequency, and duration to the ad hoc 
approvals made by the FAA for Summer 2021. This priority does not 
affect the historic precedence or priority of slot holders and carriers 
with schedule approvals, respectively, which met the conditions of the 
waiver during Summer 2021 and which seek to resume operating in Summer 
2022. The FAA may consider this priority in the event that slots with 
historic precedence become available for permanent allocation by the 
FAA. Foreign air carriers seeking priority under this provision will be 
required to represent that their home jurisdiction will provide 
reciprocal priority to U.S. carrier requests of this nature.
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    \5\ See FAA Policy Statement: Limited, Conditional Extension of 
COVID-19 Related Relief for the Summer 2021 Scheduling Season, 
Docket No. FAA-2020-0862 (Jan. 14, 2021).
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    At Level 2 airports, the FAA seeks to maintain close communications 
with carriers and terminal schedule facilitators on potential runway 
schedule issues or terminal and gate issues that may affect the runway 
times. As explained in prior notices, the FAA also seeks to reduce the 
time that carriers consider proposed offers on schedules. To allow the 
FAA to make informed decisions at airports where operations in some 
hours are at or near the desired scheduling limits, the FAA expects it 
will substantially complete the review process on initial submissions 
each scheduling season within 30 days of the end of the Slot 
Conference. After this time, the agency confirms the acceptance of 
proposed offers or informs carriers of available alternative times, as 
applicable.
    Slot management in the United States differs in some respect from 
procedures in other countries. 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.
    Generally, the FAA uses average hourly runway capacity throughput 
for airports and performance metrics in conducting its schedule review 
at Level 2 airports and determining the scheduling limits at Level 3 
airports included in FAA rules or orders.\6\ 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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    \6\ The FAA typically determines an airport's average adjusted 
runway capacity or typical throughput for Level 2 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. The FAA also reviews 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 on a schedule submission or slot 
request, 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 carriers may submit 
information on schedule plans that is both customarily and actually 
treated as private. Carriers that submit such confidential schedule 
information should clearly mark the information, or any relevant 
portions thereof, as proprietary information (``PROPIN''). The FAA will 
take the necessary steps to protect properly designated information to 
the extent allowable by law.

EWR General Information

    Consistent with the WSG, carriers are asked for their voluntary 
cooperation to adjust schedules to meet the targeted scheduling limits 
in order to minimize potential congestion and delay. For the Summer 
2022 season, the voluntary, targeted hourly scheduling limit remains at 
79 operations and 43 operations per half-hour.\7\ To help with a 
balance between arrivals and departures, the targeted maximum number of 
scheduled arrivals or departures, respectively, is 43 in an hour and 24 
in a half-hour. These targets

[[Page 54784]]

are expected to allow some higher levels of operations in certain 
periods (not to exceed the hourly limits) and some recovery from lower 
demand in adjacent periods. Consistent with general established 
practice at EWR, the FAA will accept flights above the limits if the 
flights were operated as approved, or treated as operated, by the same 
carrier on a regular basis in the previous corresponding season (i.e., 
Summer 2021).
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    \7\ 83 FR 21335 (May 9, 2018).
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    Notwithstanding the targeted limits at EWR previously described, 
OST and the FAA have announced the intent to reintroduce and reassign 
16 peak afternoon and evening runway timings, which were historically 
approved for operation by Southwest Airlines, Inc. at EWR prior to the 
carrier's exit from the airport in November 2019. As proposed, these 16 
timings would be reassigned for the benefit of a single low-cost 
carrier or ultra-low-cost carrier at EWR.\8\ This proposed EWR 
reassignment process responds to the decision of the Court of Appeals 
for the D.C. Circuit in Spirit Airlines v. DOT, et al., and furthers 
the whole of government approach to competition embodied in the 
President's Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American 
Economy (E.O. 14036). This proposed reassignment of schedule timings at 
EWR is an independent process outside of the FAA's routine schedule 
review process. While the FAA would accommodate the reassignment of the 
16 peak afternoon and evening operations as proposed in the September 
20, 2021 notice, the FAA would continue to seek voluntary cooperation 
from all carriers to adjust schedules at EWR in an effort to manage the 
operation within the desired scheduling limits. Once the reassignment 
proceeding is complete, the FAA would seek to work in coordination with 
the awarded carrier to adjust schedules within the peak afternoon and 
evening period, including minor changes between adjacent half hours, in 
the interest of optimizing efficiency and accommodating the carrier's 
schedule plans, consistent with the usual Level 2 process.
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    \8\ Reassignment of Schedules at Newark-Liberty International 
Airport, 86 FR 52285 (Sept. 20, 2021). The proposed reassignment 
process was subject to public comment. Comments were due in docket 
DOT-OST-2021-0103 no later than Monday, September 27, 2021.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on September 30, 2021.
Virginia T. Boyle,
Vice President, System Operations Services.
[FR Doc. 2021-21675 Filed 9-30-21; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P