Notice2023-20419
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 2024 Scheduling Season
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 20, 2023
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Aviation Administration
Abstract
Under this notice, the FAA announces the submission deadline of October 5, 2023, for Summer 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). In addition, this notice announces a new voluntary, targeted hourly scheduling limit at EWR based on a review of recent operational performance metrics.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 181 (Wednesday, September 20, 2023)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 181 (Wednesday, September 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64964-64966]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-20419]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 2024 Scheduling Season
AGENCY: Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA).
ACTION: Notice of submission deadline.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Under this notice, the FAA announces the submission deadline
of October 5, 2023, for Summer 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). In addition, this notice announces a new voluntary, targeted
hourly scheduling limit at EWR based on a review of recent operational
performance metrics.
DATES: Schedules should be submitted by October 5, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Schedules may be submitted to the Slot Administration Office
by email to: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#88bfa5c9dfc9a5fbe4e7fce9ece5e1e6c8eee9e9a6efe7fe"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d7e0fa968096faa4bbb8a3b6b3babeb997b1b6b6f9b0b8a1">[email protected]</span></a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Al Meilus, Manager, Slot
Administration and Capacity Analysis, AJR-G, Federal Aviation
Administration, 800 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591;
telephone (202) 267-2822; email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1c5d703251797570696f5c7a7d7d327b736a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c988a5e784aca0a5bcba89afa8a8e7aea6bf">[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 deadline for carriers to submit schedules for the Summer
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).
General Information for All Airports
The FAA has designated JFK as an IATA Level 3 airport consistent
with the Worldwide Slot Guidelines (WSG).\1\ The FAA currently limits
scheduled operations at JFK by order that expires on October 26,
2024.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 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.
\2\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The FAA has designated EWR, LAX, ORD, and SFO as IATA Level 2
airports \3\ subject to a schedule review process premised upon
voluntary cooperation. The Summer 2024 scheduling season is from March
31, 2024, through October 26, 2024, in recognition of the IATA Summer
season.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ These designations remain effective until the FAA announces
a change in the Federal Register.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 2024 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 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
[[Page 64965]]
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 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 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 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.\4\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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. Even with the
current targeted scheduling limits, on-time performance at EWR is among
the worst in the nation. Since 2018, EWR has had the largest number of
Ground Delay Programs (GDPs),\5\ the largest number of late arriving
aircraft due to GDPs,\6\ and the lowest on-time arrival rate \7\ among
the Core 30 airports. The FAA has also reviewed the distributions of
scheduled operations and actual runway operations. Based on Aviation
System Performance Metrics (ASPM) data from January 2022 through July
2023, there is a significant imbalance between scheduled operations and
actual runway operations.\8\ Based on FAA internal analysis, the median
hourly number of actual runway operations at EWR is lower than the
median number of hourly scheduled operations by three operations per
hour. Further, the actual airport throughput (the sum of actual
arrivals and departures) is less than or equal to 77 operations per
hour 95% of the time based on ASPM empirical data. Current approved
schedules at EWR routinely exceed 77 operations per hour and in fact
exceed the current schedule limit of 79 operations per hour. The hours
that are most frequently scheduled above the approved hourly targeted
scheduling limit are 0700, 0800, 1500, 1600, 1700, 1900, and 2000
Eastern Time. Schedules in these hours can reach 88 operations per
hour. This imbalance in schedules and actual throughput results in
congestion which, in turn, results in chronic delays and cancellations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ ASPM: Key Advisories: GDP & GS Report. <a href="https://aspm.faa.gov/aspmhelp/index/ASPM_Key_Advisories__GDP_%26_GS_Report.html">https://aspm.faa.gov/aspmhelp/index/ASPM_Key_Advisories__GDP_%26_GS_Report.html</a>.
\6\ ASPM: Airport Analysis: EDCT Report.
\7\ Aviation System Performance Metrics (ASPM): Airport
Analysis: Delayed Flights Report. <a href="https://aspm.faa.gov/aspmhelp/index/ASPM__Analysis__Delayed_Flights.html">https://aspm.faa.gov/aspmhelp/index/ASPM__Analysis__Delayed_Flights.html</a>.
\8\ ASPM: Airport Efficiency: Daily Configuration By Hour
Report. <a href="https://aspmhelp.faa.gov/index/ASPM_Efficiency__Daily_Configuration_By_Hour_Report.html">https://aspmhelp.faa.gov/index/ASPM_Efficiency__Daily_Configuration_By_Hour_Report.html</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The current voluntary targeted scheduling limits at EWR are 79
operations per hour and 43 operations per half hour. The current
targeted maximum number of scheduled arrivals or departures,
respectively, is 43 in an hour and 24 in a half-hour.\9\ To better
align scheduled operations with the airport's runway operational
capacity, based on actual runway operations, the targeted scheduling
limit is reduced to 77 operations per hour and 42 operations per half
hour. Improving the alignment between scheduled operations and actual
operations will help prevent unnecessary delays, will help optimize the
efficient use of the airport's resources, and will help deliver
passengers to their destinations more reliably and on time. To balance
arrivals
[[Page 64966]]
and departures, the targeted maximum number of scheduled arrivals and
departures, respectively, will be 42 in an hour and 23 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., Summer 2023) and consistent with the recent
DOT reassignment of 16 peak-hour runway timings.\10\ However, the FAA
does not intend to approve requests for new flights unless they can be
accommodated within the targeted limits. The FAA is seeking carriers'
voluntary cooperation to get scheduled operations down to the new
targeted scheduling limits.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ See 88 FR 22514 (April 13, 2023); 87 FR 60430 (October 5,
2022).
\10\ 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''.10.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carriers are reminded that 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 September 15, 2023.
Alyce Hood-Fleming,
Vice President, System Operations Services.
[FR Doc. 2023-20419 Filed 9-18-23; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on September 20, 2023.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.