Notice2025-08559
Operating Limitations at Newark Liberty International Airport, Notice of Meeting and Request for Information
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Published
May 14, 2025
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Aviation Administration
Abstract
FAA will conduct a meeting to discuss flight restrictions at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to reduce overscheduling and flight delays during peak hours of operation at that airport. This meeting is open to all scheduled air carriers, regardless of whether they currently provide scheduled service to EWR, and to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is the airport operator of EWR. Registration in advance of the meeting is requested. In addition, FAA invites interested persons to submit written information on such schedule reductions. FAA plans to issue its decision on scheduling limitations in a final order.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 92 (Wednesday, May 14, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 92 (Wednesday, May 14, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20545-20549]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-08559]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
Operating Limitations at Newark Liberty International Airport,
Notice of Meeting and Request for Information
AGENCY: Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA).
ACTION: Notice of scheduling reduction meeting and request for
information.
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SUMMARY: FAA will conduct a meeting to discuss flight restrictions at
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to reduce overscheduling and
flight delays during peak hours of operation at that airport. This
meeting is open to all scheduled air carriers, regardless of whether
they currently provide scheduled service to EWR, and to the Port
Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is the airport operator of
EWR. Registration in advance of the meeting is requested. In addition,
FAA invites interested persons to submit written information on such
schedule reductions. FAA plans to issue its decision on scheduling
limitations in a final order.
DATES:
Scheduling reduction meeting. FAA will hold the scheduling
reduction meeting on May 14, 2025, beginning at 9:00 a.m., and the
meeting may continue, if necessary, until adjourned by the
Administrator.
Written information. Any written information on the subject of
schedule reductions at EWR, including data and views, must be submitted
by May 28, 2025. To the extent possible, FAA will consider late-filed
submissions in making its determination in its final order.
ADDRESSES:
Scheduling reduction meeting. The meeting will be held in the
Bessie Coleman Room at the Orville Wright Building of the FAA, 800
Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC.
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> and follow the instructions for submitting your
information or comments electronically.
Instructions: You must include the agency name and docket number
FAA-2008-0221 for this notice at the beginning of the information that
you submit. Note that the information received will be posted without
change to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>, including any personal
information provided. Submissions to the docket that include trade
secrets, confidential, commercial, or financial information, or
sensitive security information will not be posted in the public docket.
Such information will be placed in a separate file to which the public
does not have access, and a note will be placed in the public docket to
state that the agency has received such materials from the submitter.
Privacy: We will post all comments we receive, without change,
including any personal information you provide. Using the search
function of the docket website, anyone can find and read the electronic
form of all comments received into any of our dockets, including the
name of the individual sending or signing the comment. You may review
DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published
on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78).
Docket: To read background documents or comments received, go to
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> at any time and follow the online
instructions for accessing the docket. Alternatively, you may visit the
Docket Management Facility in Room Wl2-140 of the West Building Ground
Floor of the Department of Transportation at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE,
Washington, DC. between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
Registration: To register for attendance, contact Al Meilus at the
numbers provided in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this
notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Al Meilus, Slot Administration and
Capacity 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#78191456151d11140d0b381e1919561f170e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6e0f0240030b07021b1d2e080f0f40090118">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Federal Aviation Act (the Act) at 49 U.S.C. 41722, authorizes
the Secretary of Transportation to request air carriers to attend a
meeting with the FAA Administrator to discuss flight schedule
reductions at any severely congested airport during peak operating
hours.
EWR continues to experience operational delays stemming from the
daily closure of Runway 4L/22R due construction, air traffic controller
(ATC) staffing shortages, and historical congestion challenges, and
antiquated equipment and connections. FAA has recently made significant
changes to increase air traffic controller staffing through a
combination of incentive and training programs.
Since July of 2024, Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control
(PHL) has been the Terminal Radar Approach
[[Page 20546]]
Control (TRACON) facility responsible for overseeing the Newark area.
PHL's targeted staffing number is 114 Certified Professional
Controllers (CPCs); the current onboard number at PHL is 82,
representing 71.9% staffed. Area C, overseeing the Newark area, has a
targeted staffing number of 38 CPCs, with its current staff of 24 CPCs
representing 63% staffed. Under an arrangement by the previous
administration, by the end of July 2026, 16 CPCs currently assigned to
Area C will return to N90, which previously oversaw the Newark area.
Actions are currently underway to train CPCs for Area C and to replace
those 16 CPCs. PHL currently has 26 trainees, and many of these have
previous experience at higher level facilities and are expected to
certify in less time than typical. This pipeline of personnel will
allow FAA to build up CPC staffing for Area C.
With ever-growing demand for air travel in the New York City
region, additional measures will be necessary in the context of an
effective and predictable regulatory framework to ensure that FAA is
able to provide expeditious services to aircraft operators and their
passengers that traverse this airspace. The increased congestion and
delays have had impacts on other airports within the national airspace
system (NAS). EWR is consistently one of the most delay-prone airports.
FAA, working with the airport operator, carriers and other customer
representatives, implemented a number of short-term initiatives to
improve the efficiency of airport operations and the air traffic
control system, especially during periods acutely impacted by ATC
staffing challenges.
Due to the volume of originating and destination flights in the New
York City region, as well as the interdependency and complexity of the
airspace surrounding EWR and other New York area airports, delays
caused in part by N90 staffing shortfalls are expected to continue
affecting carriers' ability to operate and continue to frustrate the
traveling public.
Construction on Runway 4L/22R necessitated a complete runway
closure from April 15, 2025, to June 15, 2025. FAA requested voluntary
returns of operations at EWR from carriers during this period to
alleviate congestion.\1\ During the construction period, delays have
exacerbated from both the runway closure and persistent staffing
challenges.
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\1\ 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. 89 FR 91544, November 11, 2024.
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Since April 15, 2025, cancellations at EWR are occurring at a rate
of one to four per hour, with an increase in the afternoon and evening,
averaging about 34 arrival cancellations per day. The number of delayed
arrivals is consistently high, beginning with an average of five in the
7:00 a.m. hour and increasing throughout the day to an average of 16
between 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. The average delay duration is 85
minutes at 7:00 a.m. and increases to 137 minutes at 5:00 p.m. This
rate declines, but holds, at about 100 minutes per flight at the end of
the day. Overall, the data shows variability in scheduled versus actual
arrivals, with a corresponding increase in level of delayed arrivals
across the hours of the day. The airport clearly is unable to handle
the current level of scheduled operations. Based on FAA's analysis of
the data, FAA will propose an hourly arrival rate of no more than 28
operations, with a corresponding departure rate of 28 operations,
resulting in no more than 56 total operations per hour during the
remainder of the construction period. The construction period is
defined as the daily closure of Runway 4L/22R until June 15, 2025, and
weekends from September 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025 from Friday
at 11:00 p.m. through 5:00 a.m. on Sunday. Outside of the construction
period, through the end of Summer 2025 scheduling season ending October
25, 2025, FAA proposes a targeted scheduling rate of 34 arrivals per
hour, with a corresponding departure rate of 34 operations, resulting
in no more than 68 total operations per hour. FAA believes that this
proposal would reduce overscheduling, flight delays, and cancellations
to an acceptable level at EWR and ensure the efficient use of the
national airspace system (NAS). Proposed targeted scheduling limits for
this period will take place between 6:00 a.m. and 10:59 p.m.
Based on these and other factors, the Administrator has determined,
pursuant to the Act, that EWR is unacceptably congested airport due to
current circumstances and that a scheduling reduction meeting is
necessary in order to discuss flight reductions in an effort to reduce
overscheduling and flight delays at EWR during peak operating hours.
The Secretary of Transportation has also determined, pursuant to the
Act, that a scheduling reduction meeting regarding flight reductions at
EWR is necessary to meet a serious transportation need or to achieve an
important public benefit, both of which include preserving competition,
passenger throughput, and access to the airport as much as possible. In
light of these determinations, FAA will conduct a scheduling reduction
meeting pursuant to the Act.
As dictated by statute, the scheduling reduction meeting will only
address planned operations by domestic air carriers. The scheduled
operations of foreign air carriers are managed under a process defined
by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). FAA will
initiate steps under the IATA process to manage, if necessary, the
scheduled operations of foreign air carriers at EWR that are
complementary to the scheduling reduction meeting.
FAA will convene the scheduling reduction meeting on May 14, 2025,
beginning at 9:00 a.m., and will continue at least through the
following day. The meeting may continue, if necessary, until adjourned
by the Administrator.
FAA will transcribe the scheduling reduction meeting, including
those sessions in which air carriers offer flight reductions to FAA, as
provided for by the procedures outlined below. The transcript and other
documents related to the meeting will be available for inspection in
Department of Transportation Docket FAA-2008-0221. In addition, any
interested person may submit written information to the public docket
no later than May 28, 2025. The docket may be accessed via the internet
at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> or at the Docket Management Facility for
the Department of Transportation.
After conducting the scheduling reduction meeting and considering
all submitted information, FAA will publish its final order on delay
reductions at EWR in the Federal Register. The order is expected to be
effective through the Summer 2025 scheduling season and construction
period and may restrict service during peak hours by all carriers,
including carriers that are not currently operating at EWR.
To ensure that proper accommodations are afforded at the meeting,
all scheduled carriers that wish to attend the scheduling reduction
meeting should register for the meeting on or before May 13, 2025.
Registration may be accomplished by contacting Al Meilus, Slot
Administration and Capacity Analysis, FAA ATO System Operations
Services, AJR-G5, Federal Aviation Administration, 800
[[Page 20547]]
Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591; telephone (202) 267-2822;
email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#37565b195a525e5b42447751565619505841"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d6b7baf8bbb3bfbaa3a596b0b7b7f8b1b9a0">[email protected]</span></a>. identifying the air carrier and its intention
to attend the meeting and identifying who will represent the air
carrier at the meeting.
FAA's Air Traffic Organization will work with individual carriers
to validate the schedule information to be used by FAA during the
course of the scheduling reduction meeting. Because the scheduling
reduction meeting and all preparations for it are subject to the U.S.
antitrust laws, FAA has coordinated with the Department of Justice,
Antitrust Division, on procedures for conducting the meeting in a way
that should facilitate legal compliance and mirror the procedures FAA
has used for schedule reduction meetings in the past.\2\
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\2\ See, Operating Limitations at New York's John F. Kennedy
International Airport, Notice of Meeting and Request for Information
(October 22, 2007) 72 FR 59579.
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As noted in this correspondence, communications among carriers
regarding competitively sensitive information could result in a
violation of the antitrust laws and lead to civil or criminal
liability. Thus, the procedures outlined in this notice provide for a
series of scheduling reduction sessions to be conducted separately by
FAA staff with each air carrier attending the meeting. We may also meet
with representatives of the airport operator. During those sessions any
scheduled air carrier or the airport operator in attendance may provide
other supplemental information to FAA regarding the targeted schedule
reductions at EWR. FAA requests the cooperation of all participants at
the meeting in adhering to the procedures outlined in this notice.
The text of the FAA letter describing the planned procedures and
the text of the Department of Justice letter assessing those procedures
are as follows:
May 9, 2025
Abigail Slater, Esq., Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division,
Room 3109, U.S. Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Dear Ms. Slater:
The Secretary of Transportation has determined, pursuant to 49
U.S.C. 41722,\3\ that it is necessary to convene a meeting of air
carriers with the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) to discuss flight reductions at Newark Liberty International
Airport (EWR) in an effort to reduce overscheduling, flight delays and
cancellations during peak hours of operation. Because of severe
congestion at that airport and the resulting delays, cancellations, and
inconvenience to the traveling public, the Administrator intends to
convene such a meeting in the immediate future. The purpose of this
letter is to describe the format and procedures for the meeting and to
ensure that, provided the meeting is conducted in accordance with this
letter, the Department of Justice would not seek to challenge as a
violation of the U.S. antitrust laws any air carrier's attendance at or
participation in the meeting or an air carrier's unilateral actions
taken to comply with an Order of the Administrator issued as a result
of the meeting.
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\3\ Sec. 41722 Delay reduction actions.
(a) Scheduling Reduction Meetings--The Secretary of
Transportation may request that air earners meet with the
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to discuss
flight reductions at severely congested airports to reduce
overscheduling and<bullet> flight delays during hours of peak
operation if--
(1) the Administrator determines that it is necessary to convene
such a meeting; and
(2) the Secretary determines that the meeting is necessary to
meet a serious transportation need or an important public benefit
(b) Meeting Conditions--Any meeting under subsection (a)
(1) shall be chaired by the Administrator,
(2) shall be open to all scheduled air carriers; and,
(3) shall be limited to discussions involving the airports and
time periods described in the Administrator's determination.
(c) Flight Reduction Targets--Before any such meeting is held,
the Administrator shall establish flight reduction targets for the
meeting and notify the attending air carriers of those targets not
less than 48 hours before the meeting.
(d) Delay Reduction Offers--An air earner attending the meeting
shall make any offer to meet a flight reduction target to the
Administrator rather than to another carrier.
(e) Transcript--The Administrator shall ensure that a transcript
of the meeting is kept and made available to the public not later
than 3 business days after the conclusion of the meeting.
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Meeting Procedures
1. Conduct of the Meeting
The meeting will be conducted under the following procedures:
a. The meeting will be chaired by the Administrator or by a
delegate of the Administrator.
b. The meeting will be open to attendance by the EWR airport
operator and all scheduled air carriers, and the FAA will transcribe
the meeting.
c. Representatives of the Department of Justice will be invited to
attend.
d. At the beginning of the meeting, the FAA will announce that the
meeting and all preparations for it are subject to the antitrust laws
and that communications among carriers regarding competitively
sensitive information, such as markets served, prices charged, and
marketing plans, could result in a violation of the antitrust laws and
lead to civil or criminal liability. The FAA will further announce
that, pursuant to advice from the Department of Justice, no
communication will be permitted by any air carrier representative in
the presence of any representative of another air carrier regarding the
subject of flight reductions at EWR or regarding any other
competitively sensitive information, including but not limited to
markets served, prices charged, and marketing plans.
e. The Administrator will then distribute to the meeting's
attendees a list of the number of flights, not specific as to air
carrier, during each 15-minute period from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m. on a
representative business day, and he will identify any periods that he
considers severely congested, as well as general targets for flight
reductions during those periods. This list will not include carrier-
specific limitations, targets, or suggested reductions. f. Each air
carrier serving EWR and attending the meeting will then be invited into
a separate and confidential session with representatives of the ATO at
which the air carrier will be asked to offer flight reductions or
schedule modifications. Only representatives of that air carrier and
the U.S. Government will be permitted to attend the offer sessions;
however, the sessions will be transcribed.
g. Any offer of flight reductions should specify the precise number
of arrivals and departures, if any, the submitting air carrier is
willing to remove from each of the severely congested periods
identified by the Administrator, indicating whether the flight
operation(s) would be cancelled or moved to another time period. The
offer may not be explicitly contingent on specific flight reductions by
other air carriers, but may be conditioned on the Administrator's
implementation of an overall reduction of specified numbers of flight
operations toward the target during the periods in question. The offer
may not contain information from the air carrier on markets served
prices charged, marketing plans, or other competitively sensitive
matters.
h. After the completion of all such sessions, the FAA will: (1)
review the offers made; (2) revise, in light of the offers made, the
list of the number of flights, not specific as to air carrier, during
each 15-minute period from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m. on a representative
business day; and (3) consult with the Administrator. The Administrator
will distribute to the meeting's attendees the
[[Page 20548]]
carrier non-specific list of the number of flights on a representative
business day and he will identify any periods that he continues to
consider severely congested and identify targets for flight reductions
during those periods.
i. At his discretion, the Administrator or his delegate may repeat
steps (f) through (h) and he may continue the schedule reduction
meeting as he deems necessary.
j. If the Administrator determines that identifying carrier-
specific targets would facilitate voluntary flight reductions and
schedule modifications, the Administrator may advise each air carrier
separately and confidentially of flight reduction targets specific to
that air carrier. No carrier-specific information will be provided to
any air carrier other than information regarding that air carrier;
however, the Administrator may make general assurances with respect to
the overall proportionality of the flight reductions among the air
carriers serving EWR.
k. Following the Administrator's identification of further flight
reduction targets, each air carrier attending the meeting that serves
EWR will be invited to a separate and confidential session with
representatives of the FAA, at which the air carrier will be given the
opportunity to submit a new or revised offer of flight reductions or
schedule modifications.
l. At his discretion. the Administrator or his delegate may repeat
steps (j) and (k). and he may continue the schedule reduction meeting
as he deems necessary.
m. The Administrator may terminate the schedule reduction meeting
at his discretion.
2. Order of the Administrator Concerning Delays at EWR
The FAA will review the final offers of each air carrier attendee
of the meeting and recommend a proposed flight reduction plan to the
Administrator. After the Administrator's review and approval of the
plan, the resulting schedule reductions including carrier-specific
limitations, will be published in the Federal Register as a final order
of the Administrator. The final order of the Administrator will specify
a method by which air carriers adversely affected by the order may be
relieved of its effect. The order will also be subject to modification
by the Administrator.
Please advise if these procedures are acceptable to you.
Sincerely,
William McKenna,
Deputy Administrator (A) and Chief Counsel
May 9, 2025
William McKenna, Acting Deputy Administrator and Chief Counsel, U.S.
Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, 800
Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20591
Re: Proposed Newark Airport Scheduling Reduction Meeting
Dear Mr. McKenna:
This letter is written in response to your May 9, 2025 letter
describing the planned format of a meeting of air carriers with the
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (``FAA'') to
discuss flight reductions at Newark Liberty International Airport
(EWR). The meeting is being called because the Secretary of
Transportation has determined, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 41722, that the
meeting is necessary to address severe congestion at EWR and reduce
flight delays during peak hours of operation. We also understand that
the meeting is important to meet the serious and unusual situation
occurring at EWR right now. You seek assurances that, provided the
meeting and related activities are conducted as described in your
letter, the Department of Justice would not seek to challenge as a
violation of the antitrust laws any air carrier's attendance at or
participation in the meeting or any carrier's unilateral actions taken
to comply with an Order of the Administrator issued as a result of the
meeting.
According to your letter, representatives of the Department of
Justice will be invited to attend the meeting. At the beginning of the
meeting, the FAA's Administrator (or his delegee) will advise all
carriers participating in the meeting that the meeting and all
preparations for it are subject to the antitrust laws and that
communications among carriers regarding competitively sensitive
information, such as markets served, prices charged, and marketing
plans, could result in a violation of the antitrust laws and lead to
civil or criminal liability. The Administrator (or his delegee) also
will announce that, pursuant to advice from the Department of Justice,
no communication will be permitted by any air carrier representative in
the presence of any representative of another air carrier regarding
flight reductions at EWR or any other competitively sensitive subject,
including but not limited to markets served, prices charged, and
marketing plans.
At the meeting, the Administrator will distribute to the meeting's
attendees a list of the number of flights, not specific as to air
carrier, during each 15-minute period from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. on a
representative business day, and indicate any periods that he considers
to be severely congested, and provide general targets for flight
reductions during those periods. This list will not identify which
carriers' flights are suggested or targeted to be limited, moved, or
eliminated. Each carrier in attendance will then be invited into a
separate, confidential discussion with the FAA Air Traffic Organization
(ATO) during which the carrier will be asked to offer specific flight
reductions or schedule modifications, which shall not be contingent on
reductions offered by another carrier or carriers. The offer may not
contain information from the air carrier on markets served, prices
charged, marketing plans, or other competitively sensitive information.
Representatives of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division will be
invited to attend each of these individual carrier offer sessions.
After completion of the individual carrier sessions, the ATO will
revise the list of flights to reflect the individual discussions with
the carriers. The carriers will again be given this list which will not
identify flights by carrier. If the Administrator believes that
severely congested time periods still exist, he may set revised targets
and have the ATO repeat the individual sessions with carriers. Again,
representatives of the Antitrust Division will be invited to attend any
repeated sessions.
If the Administrator determines that identifying carrier-specific
targets is necessary to facilitate voluntary flight reductions and
schedule modifications, he may advise each carrier separately and
confidentially of flight reduction targets specific to that carrier,
which information will not be given to any other carrier or carriers.
The Administrator may also make a general assurance with respect to the
overall proportionality of the flight reductions being sought by the
FAA from carriers serving EWR.
The Administrator will develop and approve a proposed flight
reduction plan and schedule reduction, which will be published in the
Federal Register as a final order. We believe that it also will be
important to competition for the FAA to publicly notify the airlines,
the Department of Justice, and the public when the need to restrict
flights at EWR has eased enough that the flight reduction and schedule
reduction plan is no longer required.
Importantly, the procedures do not provide for any meetings among
the carriers without the FAA and Antitrust
[[Page 20549]]
Division present. The procedures will not allow any discussion or
negotiation among carriers about flight reductions, prices charged, or
markets served. During the course of the meetings, carriers will not be
told schedule reductions or modifications other carriers are offering
or being asked to offer.
For these reasons, the Department is not presently inclined to
initiate antitrust enforcement action against any carrier that
participates in the FAA's flight reduction meeting and conducts itself
in the manner described in your May 9, 2025 letter. This expresses the
Department's current enforcement intention regarding the carriers'
participation in the flight reductions meeting. The Department reserves
the right to bring an enforcement action against any conduct that
violated the antitrust laws.
Sincerely,
Abigail Slater
Issued in Washington, DC, on May 9, 2025.
William H.W. McKenna,
Deputy Administrator (A) and Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2025-08559 Filed 5-12-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P
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