Notice2025-03589
Agency Information Collection Activities: Requests for Comments; Clearance of Renewed Approval of Information Collection: FAA Runway Slot Administration and Schedule
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Published
March 5, 2025
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Aviation Administration
Abstract
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FAA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval to renew an information collection. This information collection was previously published in the Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on September 18, 2024. Two comments were received. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comments. The FAA collects information from U.S. and foreign air carriers holding a slot at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), LaGuardia Airport (LGA), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), O'Hare International Airport (ORD), and San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The information collected is necessary to support the advance management of air traffic demand by the FAA Slot Administration in an effort to reduce potential delays.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 42 (Wednesday, March 5, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 42 (Wednesday, March 5, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11352-11354]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-03589]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
[Docket No. FAA-2021-0067]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Requests for Comments;
Clearance of Renewed Approval of Information Collection: FAA Runway
Slot Administration and Schedule
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT
[[Page 11353]]
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FAA
invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) approval to renew an information
collection. This information collection was previously published in the
Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting
comments on the following collection of information was published on
September 18, 2024. Two comments were received. The purpose of this
notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comments. The FAA
collects information from U.S. and foreign air carriers holding a slot
at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), John F. Kennedy
International Airport (JFK), LaGuardia Airport (LGA), Los Angeles
International Airport (LAX), Newark Liberty International Airport
(EWR), O'Hare International Airport (ORD), and San Francisco
International Airport (SFO). The information collected is necessary to
support the advance management of air traffic demand by the FAA Slot
Administration in an effort to reduce potential delays.
DATES: Written comments should be submitted by April 4, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of
this notice to <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. Find this particular
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
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#66270a482b030f0a13152600070748010910"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="22634e0c6f474b4e5751624443430c454d54">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of
this information collection, including (a) Whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary for FAA's performance; (b) the
accuracy of the estimated burden; (c) ways for FAA to enhance the
quality, utility and clarity of the information collection; and (d)
ways that the burden could be minimized without reducing the quality of
the collected information.
OMB Control Number: 2120-0524.
Title: FAA Runway Slot Administration and Schedule Analysis
(previously ``High Density Traffic Airports; Slot Allocation and
Transfer Methods'').
Form Numbers: There are no FAA forms associated with this
collection.
Type of Review: Renewal of an information collection.
Background: The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment
period soliciting comments on the following collection of information
was published on September 18, 2024 (89 FR 76620).
FAA has implemented several initiatives to address air traffic
congestion and delay at certain airports within the National Airspace
System (NAS). DCA slot rules are established under 14 CFR part 93,
subparts K and S. FAA has issued Orders limiting operations at JFK and
LGA.\1\ These Orders resulted from increasing congestion and delays at
the airports requiring FAA to allocate arrival and departure slots at
JFK and LGA. In addition, FAA has designated EWR, ORD, SFO, and LAX as
Level 2 schedule-facilitated airports under the IATA Worldwide Slot
Guidelines (WSG) now known as the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines
(WASG).\2\ At Level 2 airports, FAA seeks the cooperation of all
carriers planning operations, on a voluntary basis, to maintain close
communications on runway schedules and facilitate adjustments, as
needed. At DCA, U.S. and foreign air carriers, including commuter
operators, must notify FAA of: (1) Written consent and requests for
confirmation of slot transfers; (2) slots required to be returned and
slots voluntarily returned; (3) requests to be included in a lottery
for the permanent allocation of available slots; (4) reports on usage
of slots on a bi-monthly basis; and (5) requests for slots in low-
demand hours or other temporary allocations. Operators must obtain a
reservation from FAA prior to conducting an unscheduled operation. At
LGA, U.S. and foreign air carriers must notify FAA of: (1) Written
consent and requests for confirmation of slot transfers; (2) slots
required to be returned and slots voluntarily returned; (3) requests to
be included in a lottery for the permanent allocation of available
slots; and (4) reports usage of slots on a bi-monthly basis. Carriers
must also request and obtain a reservation from the FAA prior to
conducting an unscheduled operation. At JFK, U.S. and foreign air
carriers must notify FAA of: (1) Written consent and requests for
confirmation of slot transfers; (2) requests for seasonal allocation of
historic and additional available slots; (3) reports on usage of slots
on a seasonal basis; (4) the return of slots; and (5) changes to
allocated slots. At EWR, LAX, ORD, and SFO, all carriers are asked to
notify FAA of their intended operating schedules during designated
hours on a semiannual basis (for each winter and summer scheduling
season) based on the IATA WASG Calendar of Coordination Activities and
provide updates throughout the year when there are significant schedule
changes.
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\1\ Operating Limitations at John F. Kennedy International
Airport, 73 FR 3510 (Jan. 18, 2008), as most recently amended 89 FR
41486 (May 13, 2024); Operating Limitations at New York LaGuardia
Airport, 71 FR 77854 (Dec. 27, 2006), as most recently amended 89 FR
41484 (May 13, 2024).
\2\ Notice of Submission Deadline for Schedule Information for
O'Hare International, John F. Kennedy International, and Newark
Liberty International Airports for the Summer 2009 Scheduling
Season, 73 FR 54659 (Sept. 22, 2008); Notice of Submission Deadline
for Schedule Information for San Francisco International Airport for
the Summer 2012 Scheduling Season, 76 FR 64163 (Oct. 17, 2011);
Notice of Submission Deadline for Schedule Information for Los
Angeles International Airport for the Summer 2015 Scheduling Season
80 FR 12253 (Mar. 6, 2015); Notice of Change of Newark Liberty
International Airport Designation, 81 FR 19861 (Apr. 6, 2016). The
FAA most recently reaffirmed the Level 2 designations by 86 FR 24428
(May 6, 2021). These designations remain effective until the FAA
announces a change in the Federal Register.
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FAA estimates that all information from carriers is submitted
electronically from data stored in carrier scheduling databases.
Requests for unscheduled flight reservations are submitted
electronically via the internet.
Summary of Comments: FAA Received two comments during the 60-day
comment period, from Exhaustless, Inc. (Exhaustless) and Airports
Council International--North America (ACI-NA).
Exhaustless objects to this information collection and questions
FAA's legal authority to manage slots and schedules at constrained
airports in the United States, and referenced its opposition to a prior
information collection filed on September 20, 2021 (OMB ICR Reference
No. 202108-2120-002).
Exhaustless' objections are outside the scope of this Paperwork
Reduction Act proceeding. The purpose of this proceeding is to update
the Agency's estimates of the information collection burden associated
with established FAA rules, regulations, orders, policy and processes
associated with FAA's administration of runway slots and schedule
review at affected airports in the United States. However, FAA
nevertheless reiterates that FAA Administrator is required to ``develop
plans and policy for the use of the navigable airspace and assign by
regulation or order the use of the
[[Page 11354]]
airspace necessary to ensure the safety of aircraft and the efficient
use of airspace,'' and to issue regulations for ``using the navigable
airspace efficiently.'' 49 U.S.C. 40103(b). FAA's administration of the
runway slot program, including the establishment of runway schedule
limits and facilitation of schedules at Level 2 airports, is adopted
under the Administrator's mandate to efficiently manage the NAS.
ACI-NA stated that FAA is establishing limits to schedule airport
traffic at Level 2 and Level 3 airports without collecting information
from airport operators at these airports. ACI-NA recommended that FAA
annually collect a runway capacity analysis from each Level 2 or Level
3 airport, to use as basis for the runway capacity declaration and be
incorporated into the determination of the coordination parameters used
to allocate operating timings at Level 2 and Level 3 airports. In
addition, ACI-NA stated that FAA should collect information from
alternative sources to verify that air carriers met the 80% usage
requirement for approved schedules at Level 2 airports and slots at
Level 3 airports, rather than relying on air carriers' self-reporting
their slot own utilization to determine priority level at Level 2
airports and historic precedence at Level 3 airports.
FAA continuously monitors airport runway capacity and air carriers'
slot usage using several independent sources via FAA's air traffic
monitoring and management systems. One example is the Aviation System
Performance Metrics (ASPM), which provides data for a variety of
airport analyses, flights and cancellations, Terminal and System
airport efficiency measures. ASPM contains information compiled from
the following sources:
<bullet> Traffic Flow Management System (TFMS): TFMS is a data
exchange system supporting the management and monitoring of national
air traffic flow, that includes information on runway capacity at Level
2 and Level 3 airports. TFMS processes all available data sources such
as flight plan messages, flight plan amendment messages, and departure
and arrival messages. FAA's NAS Data Warehouse assembles TFMS flight
messages into one record per flight. TFMS is restricted to the subset
of flights that fly under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) and are
captured by FAA's enroute computers. Most visual flight rules (VFR) and
some non-enroute IFR traffic is excluded.
<bullet> Out, Off, On, and In (OOOI) Data: OOOI includes the times
of the actual aircraft movements of Gate Out, Wheels Off, Wheels On,
and Gate In. ASPM is updated daily with OOOI data provided by
Aeronautical Radio, Inc. (ARINC). ARINC is a major provider of
transport communications and systems engineering solutions for eight
industries, among which include aviation, airports, and transportation
and TFMS.
<bullet> CountOps: CountOps is an FAA automated system that uses
data from National Offload Program (NOP), Standard Terminal Automation
Replacement System (STARS), and Common Automated Radar Terminal System
(ARTS) to provide hourly counts of air traffic activity at more than
2,000 FAA Terminal Radar Approach Control Facilities (TRACONs), air
traffic controller towers, and airports. Since October 1, 2012, ASPM
records are updated daily with Threshold Crossing Times for departures
and arrivals from CountOps. The Threshold Crossing Time is typically
within seconds of the Wheels Off and Wheels On times and is now being
used to populate those fields when no ARINC, TFMS, or ASQP data are
available.
<bullet> Airline Service Quality Performance (ASQP): ASQP provides
information about airline on-time performance, flight delays, and
cancellations. It is based on data filed by airlines each month with
the Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics
(Office of Airline Information), as described in 14 CFR part 234 of
DOT's regulations.
<bullet> Flight Schedule Data System (FSDS): FSDS contains flight
schedule data by air carriers and airports from Innovata.
As such, FAA does not believe additional information collection
from airport operators, such as an annual capacity analysis, is
necessary, because FAA currently has access to such data from a variety
of alternate sources in alignment with ACI-NA's recommendation.
Finally, ACI-NA recommended that FAA make available certain
information in accordance with the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines
best practices, curtail the grant of slot usage waivers without
consultation with related airports and a thorough evaluation of their
impact on airport operations, and procure modern IT tools to support
the collection of information and subsequent dissemination to airport
operators.
FAA acknowledges these suggestions, but notes that they are beyond
the scope of this Paperwork Reduction Act proceeding as outlined above.
Respondents: 127 unique carriers; unknown number of operators
conducting unscheduled operations at LGA and DCA.
Frequency: Information is collected as needed; some reporting on
bimonthly or semiannual basis.
Estimated Average Burden per Response: 6 minutes per slot
transaction per respondent (i.e., transferor and transferee); 6 minutes
per slot return; 6 minutes per schedule update; 6 minutes per request
for inclusion in a lottery; 2 minutes per unscheduled slot request; 1.5
hours per schedule submission; and 1 hour per slot usage report.
Estimated Total Annual Burden: 5,616.7 hours.
Issued in Washington, DC.
Gianfranco Burdhimo II,
Acting Director, Performance Analysis, FAA ATO System Operations
Services.
[FR Doc. 2025-03589 Filed 3-3-25; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P
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