BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

)

MOTION of )

)

AIRLINES for AMERICA (A4A) )

REGIONAL AIRLINES ASSOCIATION (RAA) ) Docket DOT-OST-2013-0084

)

for a temporary exemption from ) 

14 C.F.R. § 259.4 )

)

COMMENTS OF SPIRIT AIRLINES, INC. 

Communications with respect to this document should be sent to:

Joanne W. Young

David M. Kirstein

Kirstein & Young, PLLC

1750 K Street, N.W.

Suite 200

Washington, D.C. 20006

(202) 331-3348 (telephone)

(202) 331-3933 (facsimile)

Attorneys for

SPIRIT AIRLINES, INC.

April 26, 2013
BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

)

MOTION of )

)

AIRLINES for AMERICA (A4A) )

REGIONAL AIRLINES ASSOCIATION (RAA) ) Docket DOT-OST-2013-0084

)

for a temporary exemption from ) 

14 C.F.R. § 259.4 )

)

COMMENTS OF SPIRIT AIRLINES, INC. 

Spirit Airlines, Inc. (“Spirit”) files these Comments in support of the above captioned 

request of Airlines for America (“A4A”) and the Regional Airlines Association (“RAA”) that the 

Department grant a temporary exemption from its tarmac delay regulations under § 14 C.F.R. 

§259.4 (the “Tarmac Delay Rule”) for a period of 90 days or until the FAA sequestration 

furloughs end. Spirit urges the Department to expeditiously grant this request and relieve all 

airlines from the requirement to ensure domestic flights will not remain on the tarmac for longer 

than 3 hours, and international flights for longer than 4 hours, before allowing passengers an 

opportunity to deplane. Providing airlines with this temporary exemption will benefit the 

traveling public by preventing the combination of the Tarmac Delay Rule and the FAA furloughs 
Comments of Spirit Airlines, Inc.

DOT-OST-2013-0058

2

from resulting in more flight cancellations and longer delays than necessary. In support of 

granting this request Spirit states the following:

1. Spirit serves most of the seven major U.S. airports that will be affected by daily ground 

delays being implemented as part of the FAA sequestration plan, including La Guardia 

Airport, Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport, Chicago O’Hare 

International Airport, and Los Angeles International Airport. Spirit also services a 

number of the major U.S. airports that will require daily traffic management initiatives, 

including Philadelphia International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta 

International Airport. 

2. On the second and third days of implementing furloughs, FAA reported 1,200 delays

and 1,025 delays respectively attributable to staffing reductions. Difficulties caused by 

these furloughs included “staffing challenges” at En Route Centers that resulted in 

delays at LAX, DFW, and LAS on April 22, 2013, and delays at ORD and LAS on 

April 23, 2013, all airports served by Spirit Airlines.1 The FAA is advising travelers to 

“expect to see a wide range of delays that will change throughout the day depending on 

staffing and weather related issues.”2 As FAA observes, the disruptions caused by 

these staffing shortages are widespread and unpredictable and therefore, difficult for 

airlines to plan for or avoid. Accordingly, travelers have been put on notice by the 

FAA to expect potentially long and unpredictable delays, which creates a very different 

expectation than passengers would hold pre-sequestration. 

 

1

Press Release, FAA, FAA Statement (April 23, 2013) , 

http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=14575; Press Release, FAA, FAA Statement 

(April 24, 2013), http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=14594.

2

Id.
Comments of Spirit Airlines, Inc.

DOT-OST-2013-0058

3

3. Specifically, since the FAA furloughs began, Spirit has experienced higher than normal 

delays lasting an average of one hour at many of the major airports it serves. By way of 

example, on April 24 Spirit flights experienced delays up to 3 hours at LAX due to 

issues created by the FAA furloughs. For short-haul markets, like the LAX to LAS 

market, these lengthy delays impede Spirit’s ability to not only compete with other 

carriers, but to compete with other modes of transportation. While the furlough-related 

delays currently tend to run about one hour, it is clear that an event of bad weather on 

top of the these delays could cause many flights that have left the gate, and are in the 

take-off queue, to spike over the return to gate limit.

4. The FAA furloughs, combined with the pressure to cancel flights created by the 

Tarmac Delay Rule, will more adversely affect smaller, low cost carriers, like Spirit, 

than the large legacy carriers. Accordingly, these furloughs will not only negatively 

affect passenger travel plans, but could also threaten the disciplining competition 

provided by low cost carriers like Spirit. In this time of ever-increasing industry 

consolidation, the Department should take all actions that could lessen the negative 

effects of these FAA furloughs on low cost carriers, including granting the requested 

exemption. 

As Spirit has expressed to the Department in the past, small carriers are especially

harmed by widespread flight disruptions. This is particularly the case when disruptions

lead to cancellations, because it is more difficult for smaller carriers to accommodate 

displaced passengers on alternate flights. Spirit operates a much lower number of 

flights per day in the markets it serves than larger carriers, and therefore has more 
Comments of Spirit Airlines, Inc.

DOT-OST-2013-0058

4

difficulty re-accommodating passengers on later flights. Also, without a hub and spoke 

system, Spirit does not have the ability to move passengers via alternate routes. 

Importantly, small, low cost carriers, have more limited access to gates further 

exacerbating the negative effects on these carriers in the event of widespread tarmac 

delays. As explained in the comments of masFlight filed in this Docket and which 

Spirit endorses, the FAA furloughs are causing a backlog of aircraft on the tarmac 

awaiting departure, creating the risk of Tarmac Delay Rule violations. As masFlight 

notes, in the event of bad weather this backlog could increase substantially.

Many carriers are managing the delays caused by FAA furloughs by holding more 

flights at the gate to avoid longer wait times on the tarmac. The combination of these 

two activities threaten to create significant operational issues as flights experiencing 

lengthy tarmac delays attempt to return to gates that are already occupied by another 

flight. This problem will especially impact low cost carriers that rely on high 

utilization of limited gates to keep costs low for travelers. Larger carriers with more,

and often underutilized, gates will have an easier time accommodating flights returning 

from the tarmac. That many smaller carriers share common use gates further 

exacerbates the difficulty of dealing with flights returning to the gate. Accordingly, if 

the A4A/RAA request is not granted, smaller carriers will have a greater incentive to 

cancel flights, rather than risk violating the Tarmac Delay Rule. 

5. Accordingly, suspending the Tarmac Delay Rule under the extraordinary circumstances

created by the FAA furloughs will benefit the public interest by providing carriers with 

additional flexibility to deal with disruptions caused by FAA staffing issues. For the 
Comments of Spirit Airlines, Inc.

DOT-OST-2013-0058

5

reasons stated above, as well as those contained in the above captioned Motion, Spirit 

requests the Department grant the requested exemption from 14 C.F.R. § 259.4.

Respectfully submitted,

__________________________

Joanne W. Young

David M. Kirstein

Kirstein & Young PLLC

1750 K Street N.W.

Suite 200

Washington, D.C. 20006

(202) 331-3348 (telephone)

(202) 331-3933 (facsimile)

Attorneys for

SPIRIT AIRLINES, INC.

April 26, 2013