Rule2024-26820
Construction-Related Scheduling Relief Concerning Operations at Newark Liberty International Airport, Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, March 1, 2025 Through June 15, 2025, and September 1, 2025, Through December 31, 2025
Primary source
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Published
November 20, 2024
Effective
November 20, 2024
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Aviation Administration
Abstract
This notification announces a limited, conditional policy for prioritizing returned operations at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) due to a construction-related runway closure at EWR for purposes of establishing a carrier's operational baseline in the next corresponding scheduling seasons. A "returned operation" is any planned operation included in the initially approved schedules that a carrier moved or will not operate due to the effort to reach the targeted reduced schedule throughout the construction period at EWR. In addition, the FAA will provide similar limited, conditional relief at Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) under the FAA's Level 2 schedule facilitation process as well as a limited, conditional waiver of minimum usage requirements at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), for impacted flights between EWR and the listed airports.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 224 (Wednesday, November 20, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 224 (Wednesday, November 20, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 91544-91545]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26820]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Part 93
Construction-Related Scheduling Relief Concerning Operations at
Newark Liberty International Airport, Chicago O'Hare International
Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, San Francisco International
Airport, and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, March 1, 2025
Through June 15, 2025, and September 1, 2025, Through December 31, 2025
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of
Transportation.
ACTION: Notification of limited waiver of slot usage requirement and
limited scheduling relief.
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SUMMARY: This notification announces a limited, conditional policy for
prioritizing returned operations at Newark Liberty International
Airport (EWR) due to a construction-related runway closure at EWR for
purposes of establishing a carrier's operational baseline in the next
corresponding scheduling seasons. A ``returned operation'' is any
planned operation included in the initially approved schedules that a
carrier moved or will not operate due to the effort to reach the
targeted reduced schedule throughout the construction period at EWR. In
addition, the FAA will provide similar limited, conditional relief at
Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Los Angeles International
Airport (LAX), and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) under the
FAA's Level 2 schedule facilitation process as well as a limited,
conditional waiver of minimum usage requirements at Ronald Reagan
Washington National Airport (DCA), for impacted flights between EWR and
the listed airports.
DATES: This action is effective November 20, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Requests may be submitted by mail to the Slot Administration
Office, System Operations Services, AJR-0, Room 300W, 800 Independence
Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591, or by email to: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#093e24687e68247a65667d686d646067496f6868276e667f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="53647e3224327e203f3c2732373e3a3d133532327d343c25">[email protected]</span></a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions concerning this notice
contact: Al Meilus, Capacity and Slot Analysis, FAA ATO System
Operations Services, AJR-G5, Federal Aviation Administration, 800
Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591; telephone 202-267-2822;
email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a5c4c98bc8c0ccc9d0d6e5c3c4c48bc2cad3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a4c5c88ac9c1cdc8d1d7e4c2c5c58ac3cbd2">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notification provides relief that will
enable carriers to reduce operations at EWR without unduly impacting
schedules in subsequent seasons during the following runway closure
periods:
(1) Weekend closures from March 1, 2025, to April 14, 2025, and
September 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025, from Friday at 11:00 p.m.
through 5:00 a.m. on Sunday; and
(2) Daily closures from April 15, 2025, to June 15, 2025, for all
hours.
Reducing operations will help prevent delays, optimize the
efficient use of the airport's available resources, and deliver
passengers to their destinations more reliably and on time.
Background
EWR will undergo airside construction projects conducted in several
stages from 2024 through 2026 with varying impacts on airport capacity.
Weekend closures of Runway 4L-22R will be scheduled from March 1,
2025, to April 14, 2025, and September 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025,
from Friday at 11:00 p.m. through 5:00 a.m. on Sunday.\1\
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\1\ Times included in this notice are local time.
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On April 15, 2025, EWR is scheduled to begin rehabilitation of
Runway 4L-22R. This work will cause the continuous closure of Runway
4L-22R for 60 days, to June 15, 2025. Runways 4R-22L and 11-29 will
remain operational during this period.
The FAA has designated EWR, ORD, LAX, and SFO, as Level 2 airports
under the Worldwide Slot Guidelines (WSG).\2\ The FAA does not allocate
slots, apply historic precedence, or impose minimum usage requirements
at EWR. Level 2 schedule facilitation depends upon close and continuous
discussions and voluntary agreement between airlines and the FAA to
reduce congestion. At Level 2 airports, the FAA generally provides
priority consideration for flights approved by the FAA and operated by
the carrier in those approved times in the prior scheduling season when
the FAA reviews proposed flights for facilitation in the next
corresponding scheduling season. Only those flights that were actually
operated as approved in the prior scheduling season would generally
receive priority for the next corresponding scheduling season. However,
the FAA notes that the usual Level 2 processes include flexibility for
the facilitator to prioritize planned flights, which are canceled in
advance or on the day of the scheduled operation due to operational
impacts that are beyond the control of the carrier.
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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.
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At DCA, each slot must be used a minimum of 80 percent of the time.
At DCA, the FAA will recall any slot not used at least 80 percent of
the time over a two-month period. The FAA may waive the 80 percent
minimum usage requirement if a highly unusual and unpredictable
condition beyond the control of the slot-holding air carrier affects
carrier operations for a period of nine consecutive days or more at
DCA.\3\
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\3\ 33 FR 17896 (Dec. 3, 1968). The FAA codified the rules for
operating at high-density traffic airports in 14 CFR part 93,
subpart K. The HDR requires carriers to hold a reservation, known as
a ``slot,'' for each takeoff or landing under instrument flight
rules at the high-density traffic airports. Currently, only
operations at DCA are limited by the HDR.
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FAA Analysis
The current targeted scheduling limit at EWR is 77 operations per
hour with 42 operations per half hour. The targeted maximum number of
scheduled arrivals and departures, respectively, is 42 per hour and 23
per half hour daily from 6:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. ET.
Due to the volume of flights arriving and departing EWR, the
weekend closures from March 1, 2025, to April 14, 2025, and Sepmber 1,
2025, to December 31, 2025, and the daily closure of Runway 4L-22R from
April 15, 2025, to June 15, 2025, will significantly affect carriers'
ability to operate reliably and on time. Absent increased scheduling
flexibility during the construction period, the FAA anticipates a high
likelihood of congestion, delays, and cancellations at EWR, with
related impact at ORD, LAX, SFO, and DCA. The runway closure is
expected to impact carrier operations at EWR in two phases throughout
the day for both arrivals and departures. For arrivals, demand is
higher from 6:00 a.m. through 2:00 p.m., and lowers slightly from 3:00
p.m. through the end of the day. For departures, demand is higher from
6:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m., and lowers slightly from 7:00 p.m. through
the end of the day.
The FAA modeled two scenarios of the expected delays at EWR for
these two phases of the day for arrival and departures respectively:
one scenario
[[Page 91545]]
without any mitigation measures, and one scenario with arrival limit
mitigation measures in place. The mitigation measures incorporate Air
Traffic Control (ATC) data used to assess capacity at EWR throughout
the construction period. These mitigation measures align with the
number of operations that ATC finds to be sustainable during the runway
closure, while accounting for the differing demand profiles.
For the scenario without any mitigation measures, the FAA estimates
approximately 65% of total arrivals would be delayed by an average of
55.8 minutes per arrival, and 92% of total departures would be delayed
by an average of 86.6 minutes per departure. These arrival delays would
be unrecoverable throughout the day.
The FAA then modeled a scenario that limited operations to no more
than 35 arrivals per hour through 2:00 p.m., and no more than 31
arrivals per hour from 3:00 p.m. to the end of the day. The FAA also
modeled operations with no more than 35 departures per hour through
4:00 p.m., and no more than 31 departures per hour from 5:00 p.m.
through the end of the day. The FAA arrived at these arrival and
departure limits based on analysis of historical data from the previous
closure of Runway 4L-22R due to construction in 2014. These numbers
reflect the median rates that EWR was able to sustain under the
constraint of a runway closure.
With these mitigation measures in place, the FAA estimates that
approximately 21% of total arrivals would experience an average delay
of about 38 minutes per delayed arrival, or an average of 7.9 minutes
of delay per arrival, and approximately 44% of total departures would
experience an average delay of about 39.9 minutes per delayed
departure, or an average of 17.5 minutes of delay per departure.
The FAA determined that the mitigation measures will balance
efficient and timely operations at EWR during the construction period
and limit the impact on carrier's scheduled operations for the
convenience of the flying public. Although the potential for some
delays may still occur in the evening hours, a more stringent hourly
targeted limit would result in some airport capacity being under-
utilized.
Decision
The FAA has determined that the runway closures at EWR warrant
limited, conditional schedule relief because the impacts to operations
are beyond the carriers' control and extend throughout 2025. The
targeted schedule reductions detailed below apply to both the weekend
closures March 1, 2025, to April 14, 2025, and September 1, 2025, to
December 31, 2025, and the daily closures from April 15, 2025, through
June 15, 2025.
For arrivals, the FAA requests that carriers reduce operations to
no more than 35 arrivals per hour from 6:00 a.m. through 2:00 p.m., and
no more than 31 arrivals per hour from 3:00 p.m. through the end of the
day, without moving operations into the adjacent hours. For departures,
the FAA requests that carriers reduce operations to no more than 35
departures per hour from 6:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m., and no more than
31 departures per hour from 5:00 p.m. through the end of the day. The
FAA will not approve any new requested timings during the runway
closure period. These targeted scheduling limits are effective from
Friday at 11:00 p.m. through 5:00 a.m. on Sunday from March 1, 2025, to
April 14, 2025, and September 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025, and
continuously from April 15, 2025, through June 15, 2025.
Recognizing that the Summer 2025 Scheduling Season begins on March
30, 2025, the FAA will work with carriers to reduce schedules, if
needed, through the transition from the Winter 2024/2025 Scheduling
Season to the Summer 2025 Scheduling Season where the runway closures
overlap with 2024/2025 Winter schedules.
The FAA is also extending a limited, conditional waiver from
minimum usage requirements at DCA for service to and from EWR, and
providing similar relief at ORD, LAX and SFO under the Level 2 process
for approved schedules to and from EWR. Carriers may also choose to use
those slots at DCA, or the approved runway times at ORD, LAX and SFO,
for operations to airports other than EWR. If carriers choose to reduce
their schedules between EWR-DCA or EWR and other Level 2 airports, the
FAA encourages, to the extent practicable, carriers to utilize their
slots or approved schedules to operate to other destinations.
Additionally, the FAA understands that terminal-related
construction projects and shortened runways are planned at EWR between
September 1, 2024, and December 31, 2025. The FAA will continue to work
with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) and other
stakeholders throughout the various phases of this project. The FAA
requests that carriers submit requests for relief associated with the
terminal construction separate from this policy on an individual, as-
needed basis, for the FAA's consideration. If needed, based on future
analyses, the FAA may establish additional schedule reduction periods
to accommodate these phases of the construction project.
Finally, the FAA notes that the Staffing-Related Relief is in place
from October 27, 2024, through October 25, 2025.\4\ This relief cannot
be combined with the Staffing-Related Relief.
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\4\ Staffing-Related Relief Concerning Operations at Ronald
Reagan Washington National Airport, John F. Kennedy International
Airport, LaGuardia Airport, and Newark Liberty International
Airport, October 27, 2024, through March 29, 2025 (Winter 2024/2025)
and March 30, 2025, through October 25, 2025 (Summer 2025). 89 FR
49256 (June 11, 2024).
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For the weekend runway closures from March 1, 2025, to April 14,
2025, and September 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025, and the daily runway
closures from April 15, 2025, through June 15, 2025, the FAA will
recognize priority of approved schedules or the historical precedence
of related slots, subject to the following conditions:
(1) Slots or approved schedules for initial use in the Summer 2025
and Winter 2025/2026 scheduling seasons are not eligible for relief.
(2) Slots granted historic precedence for subsequent seasons based
on this relief are not eligible for transfer if the slot holder ceases
all operations at the airport.
Issued in Washington, DC, on November 13, 2024.
Daniel J. Murphy,
Acting Vice President, System Operations Services.
[FR Doc. 2024-26820 Filed 11-18-24; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P
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