Notice2023-07756
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 Winter 2023/2024 Scheduling Season
Primary source
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Published
April 13, 2023
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Aviation Administration
Abstract
Under this notice, the FAA announces the submission deadline of May 11, 2023, for Winter 2023/2024 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).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 71 (Thursday, April 13, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 71 (Thursday, April 13, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22514-22516]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07756]
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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
Winter 2023/2024 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 May 11, 2023, for Winter 2023/2024 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 May 11, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Schedules may be submitted to the Slot Administration Office
by email to: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#bb8c96faecfa96c8d7d4cfdadfd6d2d5fbdddada95dcd4cd"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5562781402147826393a213431383c3b153334347b323a23">[email protected]</span></a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Al Meilus, Manager, Slot
Administration and Capacity Analysis, FAA ATO System Operations
Services, AJR-G, Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence
Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591; telephone (202) 267-2822; email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6c2d004221090500191f2c0a0d0d420b031a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a1e0cd8fecc4c8cdd4d2e1c7c0c08fc6ced7">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document provides routine notice to
carriers serving capacity-constrained airports in the United States,
including ORD, JFK, LAX, EWR, and SFO. In particular, this notice
announces the
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deadline for carriers to submit schedules for the Winter 2023/2024
scheduling season. The FAA deadline coincides with the schedule
submission deadline established in the Calendar of Coordination
Activities as published by the International Air Transport Association
(IATA).\1\
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\1\ <a href="https://www.iata.org/contentassets/4ede2aabfcc14a55919e468054d714fe/calendar-coordination-activities.pdf">https://www.iata.org/contentassets/4ede2aabfcc14a55919e468054d714fe/calendar-coordination-activities.pdf</a>.
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General Information for All Airports
The FAA has designated JFK as a Level 3 airport consistent with the
Worldwide Slot Guidelines (WSG).\2\ The FAA currently limits scheduled
operations at JFK by order that expires on October 26, 2024.\3\
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\2\ The FAA generally applies the WSG to the extent there is no
conflict with U.S. law or regulation. The FAA recognizes the WSG has
been replaced by the Worldwide Airports Slot Guidelines (WASG)
edition 1, effective June 1, 2020, and subsequently WASG edition 2,
effective July 1, 2022. The WASG is published jointly by Airports
Council International-World, IATA, and the Worldwide Airport
Coordinators Group (WWACG). While the FAA is considering whether to
implement certain changes to the Guidelines 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 87 FR
65161 (Oct. 28, 2022). The slot coordination parameters for JFK are
set forth in this Order.
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The FAA has designated EWR, LAX, ORD, and SFO as Level 2 airports
\4\ subject to a schedule review process premised upon voluntary
cooperation. The Winter 2023/2024 scheduling season is from October 29,
2023, through March 30, 2024, in recognition of the WSG winter
scheduling period.
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\4\ These designations remain effective until the FAA announces
a change in the Federal Register.
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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 Winter 2023/2024 scheduling season are: at EWR and JFK, from 0600
to 2300 Eastern Time (1100 to 0400 UTC); at LAX and SFO, from 0600 to
2300 Pacific Time (1400 to 0700 UTC); and at ORD, from 0600 to 2100
Central Time (1200 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. Some carriers at JFK 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. The primary users of IDs are United States
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 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 that are
consistent with the WSG as it reviews schedule and slot requests at
Level 2 and Level 3 airports, including (1) historic slots or services
from the previous equivalent season over new demand for the same
timings; (2) services that are unchanged over services that plan to
change time or other capacity relevant parameters; (3) introduction of
year-round services; (4) effective period of operation; (5) regularly
planned operations over ad hoc operations; and (6) other operational
factors that may limit a carrier's timing flexibility.
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. 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.
Slot management in the United States differs in some respects 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.\5\ 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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\5\ 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
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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 Winter
2023/2024 scheduling season, the voluntary, targeted hourly scheduling
limits remains at 79 operations and 43 operations per half-hour.\6\ 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 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., Winter 2022/2023) and
consistent with the DOT reassignment of 16 peak-hour runway timings.\7\
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\6\ 83 FR 21335 (May 9, 2018).
\7\ See Department of Transportation Order 2022-7-1, Docket DOT-
OST-2021-0103, served July 5, 2022, ``Reassignment of Schedules at
Newark-Liberty International Airport''.
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Carriers are reminded FAA approval for runway times is separate
from the approval process for gates or other airport infrastructure and
both are essential for the success of Level 2 at EWR. Schedule
facilitation at Level 2 airports is designed to engender collaboration
and gain mutual agreement between the carriers and the FAA regarding
schedules and potential adjustments to stay within the performance
goals and capacity limits of the airport and to mitigate delays and
congestion that would result in the need for Level 3 slot controls. The
FAA expects that all carriers operating at EWR will respect the
targeted scheduling limits and work cooperatively with the FAA in order
to avoid unacceptable delays and other adverse operational impacts at
the airport.
Issued in Washington, DC, on April 7, 2023.
Alyce Hood-Fleming,
Vice President, System Operations Services.
[FR Doc. 2023-07756 Filed 4-12-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P
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