BEFORE THE 

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION

WASHINGTON, DC

-----------------------------------------------------------x

In the matter of :

:

Application for Temporary Waiver of the : Docket No. FAA-2008-0221

Order Limiting Scheduled Operations at :

Newark Liberty International Airport :

-----------------------------------------------------------x

APPLICATION FOR TEMPORARY WAIVER OF 

THE ORDER LIMITING SCHEDULED OPERATIONS

AT NEWARK LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Airlines for America, which represents the largest U.S. passenger and cargo airlines,1requests 

that the minimum operating-authorization usage requirement at Newark Liberty International 

Airport (“EWR”) be temporarily waived in 2012 for the times during which runways at the airport

will either be closed or their useable length reduced because of the runway 4R-22L 

reconstruction project.

2 This requested action is consistent with the relief that the Federal 

Aviation Administration provided for the 2010 closure of runway 13R-31L at John F. Kennedy 

International Airport.3 

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will resurface runway 4R-22L at EWR next 

year. In addition, the Port Authority will undertake preparatory work for new taxiways for the 

runway, and install new runway lighting and electrical infrastructure. This is a major project. It is

to begin on April 15 and be completed on December 15. The construction schedule is as 

follows:

 Nightly closings (12:30 am through 6:30 am) of runway 4R-22L from April 15 through 

December 15.

 Extended weekend closings of runway 4R-22L from April 15 through November 15. 

Closures will occur from Saturday at 12:30 am through Sunday at 11:00 am.4

 Continuous closing of runway 4R-22L from September 8 through September 17.

 Continuous closing of the intersection of runway 4R-22L and runway 11-29 from May 4 

through May 9. This will result in shortening the available lengths of both runways.

The schedule is subject to change because of weather conditions.

These closures will significantly affect EWR’s throughput during the construction periods. EWR 

primarily relies on parallel northeast-southwest runways for its operations. Runway 4R-22L is 

the principal arrivals runway for the airport. Its closure will mean that both arrivals and 

departures must use runway 4L-22R. Runway 11-29 is the cross-wind runway that single-aisle 

 

1

Air Transport Association of America, Inc. d/b/a Airlines for America

2

74 Fed. Reg. 51648 (Oct. 7, 2009).

3

74 Fed. Reg. 52838 (Oct. 14, 2009).

4 Work is not scheduled for the weekends of March 12-13; June 30-July 1; and July 7-8.
2

aircraft, particularly regional jets, sometimes use. Its construction-caused shortening could limit 

those operations. Thus, for most operations, EWR will be turned into a single-runway airport 

during the periods when runway 4R-22L is closed. The airport is one of the busiest in the nation; 

it had 403,339 operations in 2010.

5

It is also experiences significant delays.

The FAA, the Port Authority and airlines have discussed ways to mitigate the effects of this 

project. The construction schedule reflects those discussions. Nevertheless, operations at EWR 

will be affected. Arrival and departure demand at the airport is consistently high, even with the 

2009 operating authorizations order. The analyses of the effects of the EWR project that 

MITRE’s Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (“CAASD”) has performed for the 

FAA clearly indicate that operational performance will decline appreciably because of the 

runway closures. The adverse effects that the CAASD has projected involve total and average 

delays, as well as the number of operations with long delays. Based on the CAASD analyses, 

current airline service patterns cannot be maintained during the affected periods. To minimize 

customer impact during the construction period, carriers necessarily will attempt to adjust 

schedules during planned runway and intersection closures.

Under the FAA’s order limiting scheduled operations at EWR, operating authorizations must be 

used at least 80 percent of the time they are allocated or the FAA will withdraw them.6 However, 

that order also states that the FAA may waive the minimum usage requirement 

in the event of a highly unusual and unpredictable condition which is beyond 

the control of the carrier and which affects carrier operations for a period of five 

consecutive days or more.7

The 2012 EWR construction program meets these criteria for grant of a temporary waiver of the 

minimum usage rule. The runway closures are highly unusual, unpredictable and beyond the 

control of airlines serving the airport. Moreover, they will occur over periods of more than five 

consecutive days.

Indeed, these circumstances mirror those involving the 2010 reconstruction closures of runway 

13R-31L at Kennedy Airport for which the FAA issued a temporary waiver of the minimum 

usage rule. It concluded that those circumstances met the waiver criteria.8 As the FAA stated in 

the order granting that waiver, “[w]ith the capacity impacts during the construction, the public 

interest supports a reduction in operations in order to minimize delays and improve on-time 

performance.”9

In light of these considerations, we request that the FAA waive the minimum usage requirement 

at EWR as follows:

1. During the month of September and at all other times that the Port Authority has 

scheduled closures for the runway 4R-22L reconstruction project;

 

5

 Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, “2010 Airport Traffic Report” at 9 (2011), accessible at 

http://www.panynj.gov/airports/pdf-traffic/ATR2010.pdf.

6

74 Fed. Reg. at 51650, ordering ¶ 9.a., col. 1.

7

Id., ordering ¶9.a.ii., col. 2.

8

74 Fed. Reg. at 52838, col. 3.

9

Id.
3

2. For cancellations of scheduled operations where the cancellation is attributable to 

excessive construction-caused delays; and

3. If construction is changed to times or dates different than now scheduled, or extended

beyond the current schedule, that an automatic waiver be granted for the new dates or 

times without the need for a subsequent petition to the FAA or approval by the FAA.

This temporary relief will enable air carriers to respond as effectively as possible to the 

reduction in capacity next year at EWR and is consistent with FAA policy. It is in the public 

interest.

Respectfully submitted,

AIRLINES FOR AMERICA

_________________________________

David A. Berg

Senior Vice President & General Counsel

1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20004

202-626-4000

dberg@airlines.org

December 6, 2011