Exemption No. 9570A

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA\
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION\
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION\
WASHINGTON, DC 20591

In the matter of the petition of

AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC. **Regulatory Docket No****. FAA--2006--25049**

for an exemption from § 121.619

of Title 14, Code of

Federal Regulations

# PARTIAL GRANT OF EXEMPTION

By letter dated February 7, 2008, Mr. Mark Hettermann, Vice President,
Flight Operations, American Airlines, Inc. (American), 4601 Highway
360, MD 843, Fort Worth, Texas 76155, petitioned the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) on behalf of American for an amendment to Exemption
No. 9570, granted on December 11, 2007. That exemption from § 121.619 of
Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) allows American,
American's certificated dispatchers, and American's pilots in command
(PIC) to dispatch aircraft to domestic airports without designating an
alternate for the destination airport where for at least 1 hour before
and 1 hour after the estimated time of arrival at the destination
airport the appropriate weather reports or forecasts, or any combination
of them, indicate the ceiling will be at least 1,000 feet above the
airport elevation and visibility will be at least 3 statute miles. The
proposed amendment, if granted, would revise Condition No. 3 to limit
operations under this exemption to airports at which an operable
Category (CAT) I instrument landing system  (ILS) procedure with
published minimums of 300 feet and runway visual range (RVR) of 4,000
feet or lower is available for use if needed. Additionally, American
seeks to amend Condition No. 4. This condition states, in pertinent
part, that the dispatch release will contain a statement for each flight
dispatched under this exemption of "ALTERNATE WEATHER EXEMPTION APPLIED.
REFERENCE \[insert name of appropriate document\]." American wishes to
revise the statement to read "ALTN WX EXEMPTION APPLIED."

**The petitioner requests relief from the following regulation:**

> Section 121.619 states the following:
>
> \(a\) No person may dispatch an airplane under instrument flight rules
> or over-the-top unless he lists at least one alternate airport for
> each destination airport in the dispatch release. When the weather
> conditions forecast for the destination and first alternate airport
> are marginal, at least one additional alternate must be designated.
> However, no alternate airport is required if for at least 1 hour
> before and 1 hour after the estimated time of arrival at the
> destination airport the appropriate weather reports or forecasts, or
> any combination of them, indicate---
>
> \(1\) The ceiling will be at least 2,000 feet above the airport
> elevation; and
>
> \(2\) Visibility will be at least 3 miles.
>
> \(b\) For the purposes of paragraph (a) of this section, the weather
> conditions at the alternate airport must meet the requirements of
> § 121.625.
>
> \(c\) No person may dispatch a flight unless he lists each required
> alternate airport in the dispatch release.

**The petitioner supports its request with the following information:**

> The petitioner contends Condition No. 3, which requires an operable
> CAT I ILS procedure with published minimums of 200 feet and RVR 2,000
> feet or lower at the destination airport, impacts the utility of the
> exemption because it eliminates from eligibility all of American's
> destination airports that do not have the lowest CAT I RVR minimums of
> 1,800 feet since none have published minimums that match the odd RVR
> 2,000-foot limitation.
>
> The petitioner states that the previous assertion, in the original
> petition for exemption, that American would always maintain at least
> an 800-foot ceiling margin and a\
> 2 2/3-statute-mile visibility margin between approach capability at
> the destination airport and the 14 CFR weather requirements were based
> on aircraft and aircrew capability to utilize the lowest CAT I
> approach minimums of RVR 1,800 feet/height above touchdown (HAT) 200.
> However, for planning purposes, American anticipated being able to use
> the exemption for destinations with CAT I minimums of ½ mile
> visibility.
>
> Furthermore, the petitioner explains that American's destinations are
> eligible for use of the exemption under the RVR 2,000-foot visibility
> limitation and for the exemption to be worthwhile, any visibility/HAT
> limitation should not be more restrictive than\
> ½ mile visibility and 200 feet HAT. The petitioner asserts that a
> limitation of RVR 4,000/300 feet HAT would both maximize utility and
> still provide significant margins over standard 14 CFR § 121.619
> parameters.
>
> Lastly, the petitioner believes that the paragraph in Condition No. 4,
> which requires that the dispatch release contain a statement for each
> flight dispatched under the exemption of "ALTERNATE WEATHER EXEMPTION
> APPLIED. REFERENCE \[insert name of appropriate document\]," provides
> no flexibility to utilize other wording and that the exact phrase
> mandated does not enhance the safe use of this or any alternate
> exemption. Moreover, the petitioner asserts that unless American is
> granted the flexibility to use current terminology, the airline will
> incur expensive flight planning system reprogramming costs and
> implementation delays in order to use Exemption No. 9570.

A summary of the petition was published in the [Federal
Register]{.underline} on March 26, 2008 (73 FR 16091). No comments were
received.

**The FAA\'s analysis is as follows:**

> The FAA has reviewed the petitioner's supporting information and finds
> the circumstances presented by the petitioner do not justify a grant
> of exemption.
>
> The FAA granted Exemption No. 8660 with the condition and limitation
> that operations under the exemption were limited to only those
> airports at which an operable CAT II ILS is available for the intended
> landing runway. This requirement was later amended to limit operations
> to only those airports at which an operable\
> CAT II or CAT III ILS is available for use if needed. Thus, under
> Exemption No. 8660, the margin between allowable ceiling and
> visibility at the destination airport and the approach capability
> required is always at least 900 feet and 1 ¾ miles and can be greater
> in the case of a CAT III facility. In the case of Exemption No. 9570,
> American assured the FAA that "American's proposal will always
> maintain at least an 800-foot ceiling margin and a 2 2/3 statute-mile
> visibility margin when determining the need for a destination
> alternate." Hence, under Exemption No. 9570, the FAA granted relief
> from the CAT II or CAT III ILS requirement specified in Exemption\
> No. 8660 based on trading the 3-mile visibility requirement in the
> rule for the 2 miles required in Exemption No. 8660. In granting the
> relief in Exemption No. 9570, it is important to note that the ceiling
> at destination required under 14 CFR § 121.619 was cut in half in the
> exemption, from a 2,000-foot ceiling required by the rule to a
> 1,000-foot ceiling required by the exemption. It should further be
> noted that the HAT required by Exemption No. 9570 is 100 percent
> greater than the HAT or decision height required by Exemption No.
> 8660. The CAT I ILS visibility requirements in Exemption No. 9570 were
> derived based on American's assertion quoted above. In order to have a
> 2 2/3-statute-mile visibility margin when determining the need for a
> destination alternate, ILS minima of 1/3 statute miles is required. If
> the table in\
> 14 CFR § 91.175(h)(2) is consulted, 1/3-statute-mile visibility can be
> interpolated as 1,856 feet RVR. In granting the petition, the FAA used
> the next higher CAT I minima of RVR 2,000 feet. RVR 2,000 feet is an
> appropriate minimum visibility in accordance with Appendix 8 of
> Advisory Circular 120-29A Table A 8-1 and is also listed distinctly in
> Operations Specification (OpSpec) C054. Thus it is a credible value.
> The FAA is aware that there are few existing CAT I ILS approaches with
> the RVR 2,000-foot minima; however, the FAA's conversion of many
> existing CAT I ILS approaches to RVR 1,800-foot minima has yielded 198
> additional CAT I ILS approaches in the previous 60 days and will yield
> another 25 or more by the end of the year. This should provide a lot
> of the additional utility of Exemption No. 9570 that American seeks.
>
> The FAA does not find that increasing the RVR requirement for the CAT
> I ILS approach capability required by Condition No. 3 would provide an
> equivalent level of safety over the current exemption. Also, the FAA
> does not concur that raising the published minima required to 300 feet
> and RVR 4,000 feet is warranted, since this would triple the HAT and
> the RVR required by Exemption No. 8660 without any additional safety
> mitigation.
>
> The FAA notes that Condition No. 4i., which requires a specific
> statement on the dispatch release when dispatching under Exemption No.
> 9570, differs from the OpSpec which provides additional flexibility by
> adding "The certificate holder may choose to use other wording if
> desired, but the meaning must be clear." We recognize that there is a
> conflict between the two; however, since American currently holds two
> separate exemptions that both provide relief from the same regulation,
> it is important that all involved with the dispatch of a flight
> understand which exemption is applicable to a given flight and what
> conditions and limitations are pertinent, depending on their role in
> the operation. Accordingly, and with the foregoing caveat, the FAA
> finds that Condition No. 4i. in the exemption should be revised to
> correlate with the OpSpec.
>
> The FAA finds that the conditions and circumstances with regard to
> public interest and the effect on public safety, which warranted the
> original grant of the exemption, continue to exist. The FAA concluded
> on December 11, 2007, when the exemption was issued, that granting the
> exemption was in the public interest. The proposed change being
> granted will serve only to reduce the administrative requirements of
> compliance with the exemption.

# The FAA's Decision:

In consideration of the foregoing, I find that a partial grant of
exemption is in the public interest. Therefore, pursuant to the
authority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 40113 and 44701, delegated to me by
the Administrator, American Airlines, Inc., its certificated
dispatchers, and its PICs are granted relief from 14 CFR § 121.619 to
the extent necessary to dispatch aircraft to domestic airports without
designating an alternate for the destination airport where for at least
1 hour before and 1 hour after the estimated time of arrival at the
destination airport the appropriate weather reports or forecasts, or any
combination of them, indicate the ceiling will be at least 1,000 feet
above the airport elevation and visibility will be at least 3 statute
miles, subject to the following revised conditions and limitations:

**Conditions and Limitations**

> 1\. Before conducting operations under this exemption, American must
> obtain appropriate amended OpSpecs that provide for operations under
> this exemption.
>
> 2\. Operations under this exemption are limited to only those
> destination airports in the contiguous United States.
>
> 3\. Operations under this exemption are limited to only those airports
> at which an operable CAT I ILS procedure with published minimums of
> 200 feet and RVR 2,000 feet or lower is available for use if needed.
>
> 4\. Before conducting operations under this exemption, American must
> demonstrate to the FAA principal operations inspector (POI) assigned
> to American's satisfaction that---
>
> a\. Each American dispatcher has a system available to display the
> location of each American flight within 3 minutes of real time.
>
> b\. Each American dispatch facility has a system that provides its
> dispatchers with overlays of weather returns updated at least once
> every 5 minutes.
>
> c\. Each American dispatch facility has a system that provides its
> dispatchers with a display of the specific aircraft routing as
> assigned by air traffic control (ATC) and actual filed flight plan
> routing.
>
> d\. Each American dispatcher has a system available to display
> locations of other airborne aircraft, including aircraft of other
> operators.
>
> e\. Each American dispatch facility has a system available that
> provides its dispatchers with a display of planned and actual fuel at
> regular intervals along the route and the difference between planned
> and actual fuel.
>
> f\. Each American dispatch facility has a system available that
> automatically alerts its dispatchers to special weather updates and
> changes in weather reports, forecasts, and/or other significant
> weather-related reports and ensures these can be relayed to
> flightcrews in an expeditious manner.
>
> g\. Each American dispatcher is provided the capability to access the
> services of a qualified meteorologist approved by the POI whenever the
> dispatcher believes consultation is necessary to ensure safety of
> operations under this exemption. The presence of an approved Enhanced
> Weather Information System program satisfies this requirement.
>
> h\. Each American dispatcher has the capability to expeditiously
> recompute projected arrival fuel from a point aloft to the intended
> destination in the event conditions occur that negatively impact the
> flight.
>
> i\. The dispatch release will contain a statement for each flight
> dispatched under this exemption such as: "ALTN WEATHER EXEMPTION
> APPLIED. REFERENCE (APPROPRIATE DOCUMENT SUCH AS FOM, GOM, etc)."
> Wording other than the above may be used, but the meaning must be
> clear in order to ensure that all involved in dispatching the flight
> understand which is the appropriate exemption and the specified
> conditions and limitations that apply.
>
> 5\. American must maintain at least CAT I ILS approach authorization
> (OpSpec C074) for those aircraft to which this exemption would apply,
> and each aircraft must have fully operating equipment needed for
> CAT I ILS approaches for that aircraft to operate under this
> exemption.
>
> 6\. At the time of dispatch, the flight crew must be qualified to
> conduct a CAT I ILS approach to minimums of 200 feet and RVR 2,000
> feet or lower if published. PICs with less than the requisite minimum
> hours specified in § 121.652 cannot be used in operations under this
> exemption, unless the operator also holds Exemption No. 5549, the PIC
> has been trained in accordance with the requirements of that
> exemption, and all of the conditions specified by Exemption No. 5549
> are met.
>
> 7\. Operations are not permitted under this exemption at any airport
> at which thunderstorms are reported or forecast from 1 hour before
> through 1 hour after the estimated arrival time if such reports or
> forecasts are in either or both the main body or the remarks section
> of the weather report or the weather forecast. Furthermore American
> cannot use Exemption No. 3585P issued to Air Transport Association of
> America, Inc., members (including American) or any subsequent
> exemption granting similar relief regarding any kind of forecast of
> thunderstorms at the destination airport in conjunction with any
> operation conducted under this exemption issued today.
>
> 8\. Each certificated American dispatcher and PIC who conducts
> operations under this exemption must be provided with a copy of
> pertinent parts of this exemption. Operations under this exemption are
> permitted by American dispatchers and American PICs but are not
> required.
>
> 9\. Use of this exemption in operations to destinations outside the
> contiguous United States is prohibited. American is authorized to use
> this exemption in operations to airports within the contiguous United
> States from airports outside those boundaries provided American also
> holds OpSpec A012 and operations are conducted in accordance with the
> appropriate provisions of that OpSpec as they pertain to operations
> from airports listed in Table 1 thereof.
>
> 10\. American must provide the Administrator, by the 15th day of each
> month, reports that include the information listed below during the
> preceding calendar month. The POI is authorized to delete this
> reporting requirement once American has conducted operations under
> this exemption satisfactorily for at least 24 continuous calendar
> months and sufficient data to thoroughly evaluate operational
> performance have been obtained. Reports must contain the following
> information:
>
> a\. The total number of flights operated by American under domestic
> rules to destinations within the 48 contiguous States and the District
> of Columbia.
>
> b\. The total number of flights operated under this exemption,
> including those flights conducted under the appropriate provisions and
> limitations of OpSpec A012. For each flight operated, the dates,
> airport pairs, flight numbers, aircraft make, model, and serial
> number, trended or graphical summary of flight planned fuel versus
> actual arrival fuel, and contingency fuel must be listed. Report
> format must be in chronological order by fleet type.
>
> c\. The total number of flights that divert to an alternate airport.
>
> d\. The total number of flights that divert to an alternate airport
> that are operated under this exemption and the reason for each
> diversion, such as weather conditions, mechanical problem, fuel
> quantity, passenger problem, air traffic, crewmember, or any other
> reason. American must document fully each diversion.
>
> e\. The total number of American flights operated under this exemption
> that declare an emergency and the reason for such declaration, or
> during which flight a low fuel state occurs that results in actions
> being taken by ATC and/or dispatch to provide priority handling, even
> if no emergency is declared.

The termination date of this exemption remains December 31, 2009, unless
sooner superseded or rescinded. This letter must be attached to, and is
a part of, Exemption No. 9570.

Issued in Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2008.

/s/

James J. Ballough

Director, Flight Standards Service