ORDER 2012-2-21

Served: February 24, 2012

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

ESTABLISHMENT OF SLOT EXEMPTION PROCEEDINGS

AT RONALD REAGAN WASHINGTON NATIONAL AIRPORT

PURSUANT TO 49 U.S.C. § 41718

Docket DOT-OST-2012-0029

ORDER

On February 14, 2012, President Obama signed into law the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 

(FAA 2012), Pub. L. No. 112-95. Section 414 of FAA 2012 directs the Department to grant a total of 16 

additional slot1 exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) for nonstop service between 

DCA and airports beyond the 1,250-mile perimeter. There are two categories for these new exemptions: eight

are reserved for service to be provided by new entrant and limited incumbents, while the other eight are 

reserved for non-limited incumbent carriers up to a maximum of two each, the operation of which are 

conditioned upon the carrier’s discontinuing use of an equivalent number of existing slots currently used for 

service between DCA and a large hub airport within the 1,250 mile perimeter of DCA.2

By this Order, we are requesting applications from new entrant and limited incumbent carriers3 for the eight 

additional beyond-perimeter slot exemptions made available under 49 U.S.C. § 41718(g)(2). Because Section 

414 requires the Department to grant the exemptions not later than 90 days after enactment of FAA 2012, we 

must establish an expedited schedule for the application process. Accordingly, completed applications for any 

of these eight exemptions must be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2012-0029 by March 12, 2012, and comments 

with respect to any such application are due March 27, 2012. 

NOTE: Docket DOT-OST-2000-7181 was earlier established for beyond-perimeter DCA slot exemption 

matters. For this proceeding, a new docket has been established and filings shall be directed to DOTOST-2012-0029. 

As to the remaining eight slot exemptions, FAA 2012 directs the Secretary to make these available to incumbent 

carriers qualifying for status as a non-limited incumbent carrier at DCA as of the date of enactment of the 

statute.4 We have determined that four air carriers meet that description: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, 

United Air Lines, and US Airways. Under FAA 2012, each of these carriers is entitled to operate up to a 

maximum of 2 of the newly authorized exemptions subject to the conditions set forth in 49 U.S.C. § 41718(g).5 

 

1 A slot is a reservation for an instrument flight rule takeoff or landing. Therefore, two slots are required to operate a round trip. 49 

U.S.C. § 41714(h)(4). A slot exemption is an exemption from the slot limitations in the Federal Aviation Administration’s High 

Density Rule, 14 CFR Part 93, subparts K and S.

2 The first eight are governed by the conditions set out under 49 U.S.C. § 41718(g)(2) as added by section 414, while the second eight 

are governed by the conditions set out in 49 U.S.C. § 41718(g)(3).

3 See also 14 CFR §§ 93.213 (a)(5), 93.223 (c), and 93.225 (h), and 49 U.S.C. § 41714(h), as amended by FAA 2012.

4 49 U.S.C. § 41718(g)(3).

5 Under 49 U.S.C. § 41718(g)(3)-(5), the use of the exemptions are conditioned upon, among other things, that the incumbent carrier 

(1) discontinue the use of a slot for service between DCA and a large hub airport within the perimeter and operate, in place of such 
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We therefore grant these exemptions by this Order; the operation of these exemptions are subject to these 

conditions as well as to all other applicable requirements in 14 CFR subparts K and S, including the slot use or 

lose provisions. 

With the creation of these sixteen beyond-perimeter DCA slot exemptions, a total of 40 take-offs or landings at 

DCA for service beyond 1,250 miles have been authorized by law.6 

This Order provides information to U.S. and Canadian air carriers regarding these exemptions.

Recent Developments

FAA 2012, among other things, made several significant changes to laws regarding slot and slot exemptions at 

DCA, and we briefly summarize the most significant changes below. 

First, as discussed above, the legislation directs the Secretary to grant 16 additional beyond-perimeter slot 

exemptions. Of those, eight are to be granted to limited incumbent/new entrant carriers to serve airports beyond 

the 1,250-mile perimeter, with the other eight reserved for non-limited incumbents to trade-in up to two insideperimeter slots for two beyond-perimeter slot exemptions. 

Second, three new criteria (E, F and G) have been added to those already in place for the Secretary to consider 

in deciding which FAA 2012 beyond-perimeter exemptions to grant to new entrant and limited incumbent 

carriers. These are: to enhance options for nonstop travel to and from the beyond-perimeter airports that will be 

served; to have a positive impact on the overall level of competition in the markets that will be served; and to 

produce public benefits, including lower fares, higher capacity, and a variety of service options. Below, under 

“Application Process,” are the seven criteria verbatim from FAA 2012. 

Third, none of the FAA 2012 beyond-perimeter slot exemptions may be used to operate multi-aisle or widebody 

aircraft.

Fourth, departures conducted by new entrants and limited incumbents utilizing the eight beyond-perimeter DCA 

slot exemptions (as well as previously authorized beyond-perimeter and within-perimeter slot exemptions) may 

not be scheduled between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.

Fifth, operations conducted utilizing DCA slot exemptions may not increase the total number of operations at 

DCA in any 1-hour period between 7:00 a.m. and 9:59 p.m. by more than five operations. The existing hourly 

limit for operations conducted utilizing slot exemptions is three. 

Lastly, Section 414(c) of FAA 2012 amended the definition of a Limited Incumbent Carrier by increasing the 

threshold of slots held or operated by an air carrier or commuter carrier, not including slot exemptions, slots 

 

service, service between DCA and an airport located beyond the perimeter; (2) file a notice of intent with the Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation specifying the market to be served and the service to be discontinued; (3) not operate a multi-aisle or widebody 

aircraft in conducting such beyond-perimeter service; (4) not transfer the rights to its beyond-perimeter exemptions pursuant to 

Section 41714(j), and (5) if utilizing an exemption under this section for an arrival permitted between the hours of 10:01 p.m. and 

11:00 p.m., discontinue use of an existing slot during the same time period the arrival exemption is operated.

6 Of these 40 beyond-perimeter slot exemptions, 32 will have resulted in a net increase in DCA operations. The eight newly-created 

slot exemptions for non-limited incumbents correspond to a discontinuance of eight existing slot allocations. 49 U.S.C. § 41718(a), 

added by Section 231 of AIR-21, provided that the Secretary shall, subject to certain findings, grant 12 slot exemptions to air carriers 

for the provision of air transportation outside the 1,250-mile perimeter established for air transportation under 49 U.S.C. § 49109. By 

Order 2000-7-1, Order 2001-6-20, and Order 2002-11-20, the Department fully allocated these 12 beyond-perimeter slot exemptions. 

Vision 100 directed the Department to distribute an additional 12 DCA beyond-perimeter slot exemptions. By Order 2004-4-1, the 

Department fully allocated those 12 additional beyond-perimeter slot exemptions.
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operated under certain fee-for-service arrangements for another carrier, or slots held under a sale and licenseback financing arrangement with another carrier, from fewer than 20 to fewer than 40.7

Application Process for New Entrant and Limited Incumbent Air Carriers

The Department will consider applications and grant a total of eight DCA beyond-perimeter slot exemptions 

from new entrant and limited incumbent air carriers as made available by FAA 2012.8 The statutory criteria9

require that the granted exemptions will: (A) provide air transportation with domestic network benefits beyond 

the 1,250 mile perimeter; (B) increase competition in multiple markets; (C) not reduce travel options for 

communities served by small hub airports and medium hub airports within the 1,250 mile perimeter; (D) not 

result in meaningfully increased travel delays; (E) enhance options for nonstop travel to and from the beyondperimeter airports that will be served; (F) have a positive impact on the overall level of competition in the 

markets that will be served; or (G) produce public benefits, including lower fares, higher capacity, and a variety 

of service options. 

Applications for the eight beyond-perimeter slot exemptions must utilize single-aisle and narrowbody aircraft

and must be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2012-0029 by March 12, 2012. Comments with respect to any timely 

filed request for the slot exemptions must be filed by March 27, 2012. We will also require applicants to submit 

a schedule for their proposed operations, including takeoff and landing times at DCA. In light of the limited 

time afforded by statute, the Department intends to proceed directly to a final decision regarding these eight 

exemptions. 

Exemptions Granted to Incumbent Carriers

We hereby grant to incumbent carriers qualifying under 49 U.S.C. § 41718(g)(3) up to two exemptions for 

beyond perimeter use. The exercise of the exemptions is subject to the conditions set forth in the statute, and as

required by 49 U.S.C. § 41718(g)(3)-(4), the incumbent carriers must file a notice of intent with the Office of 

the Secretary of Transportation that specifies the beyond perimeter destination to be served and the slots the 

carrier will discontinue using to serve a large hub airport located within the perimeter. The carriers should file 

their notices of intent in Docket DOT-OST-2012-0029.

Incumbent carriers are to contact the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Slot Administration Office for 

approval of the substitution and flight times.

Scheduling Priority

As a final matter, we note that Section 414 (b) of FAA 2012 allows us to assign two additional slot exemptions

per one hour period (for a total of five), an increase from the three per hour authorized in Vision 100-Century of 

Aviation Reauthorization Act, P.L. 108-176. We anticipate multiple requests for the same slot periods, and 

therefore, may not be able to accommodate all requests for slot exemption times. There are 15 hourly periods 

beginning at 7:00 a.m. and ending at 9:59 p.m., and all slot exemptions must fit into those 75 slot times. In 

applying for specific times, applicants granted slot exemptions may be asked to specifically justify their 

requests. Applicants should keep these constraints in mind prior to submitting any proposals and should 

understand that these slot-time constraints may cause some proposals not to be viable. In coordination with 

FAA’s Slot Administration Office, we shall assign slot times corresponding with the authority granted in these 

proceedings, and in accordance with the requirements of FAA 2012, in a notice subsequent to our decision.

 

7 See 49 U.S.C. § 41714(h)(5).

8 New entrant air carriers and limited incumbent air carriers may apply for any number of these eight slot exemptions. 

9 See Section 414 of FAA 2012.
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Environmental Issues

Although 49 U.S.C. § 41718(e) specifically exempts our action here from review under the National 

Environmental Policy Act,10 we remain sensitive to the environmental impact of increased operations at DCA. 

As required by statute, DCA slot exemptions must be operated by Stage 3 compliant aircraft, and these may not 

be multi-aisle or widebody in type. Also, under 49 U.S.C. § 47117(e), the Department will give DCA priority 

in making grants for airport noise compatibility planning and programs.

This Order is issued under authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.56(a). 

ACCORDINGLY, 

1. U.S. and Canadian air carriers qualifying as new entrants or limited incumbents under 

49 U.S.C. § 41718(h)(3) and (5), as amended by FAA 2012, that are interested in applying for the eight 

additional beyond-perimeter slot exemptions made available under 49 U.S.C. § 41718(g)(2) are directed to file 

their applications in Docket DOT-OST-2012-0029 by March 12, 2012. 

2. Comments with respect to any timely filed request are due March 27, 2012.

3. The Department grants two exemptions from 14 CFR Part 93, Subparts K and S, to each of American 

Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Air Lines, and US Airways, incumbent carriers qualifying under 49 U.S.C. § 

41718(g)(3) for beyond perimeter use. The exercise of the exemptions is subject to the conditions set forth in 

49 U.S.C. § 41718(g), including that the incumbent carrier (a) discontinue the use of a slot for service between 

DCA and a large hub airport within the perimeter and operate, in place of such service, service between DCA 

and an airport located beyond the perimeter; (b) file a notice of intent with the Office of the Secretary of 

Transportation specifying the market to be served and the service to be discontinued; (c) not operate a multiaisle or widebody aircraft in conducting such beyond-perimeter service; (d) not transfer the rights to its beyondperimeter exemptions pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 41714(j); and (e) if utilizing an exemption under this section for 

an arrival permitted between the hours of 10:01 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., discontinue use of an existing slot during 

the same time period the arrival exemption is operated.

The incumbent carriers should file their notices of intent in Docket DOT-OST-2012-0029.

4. We direct incumbent carriers acting pursuant to the exemptions granted in paragraph 3 to contact the Federal 

Aviation Administration (FAA) Slot Administration Office for approval of the substitution and flight times.

5. None of the FAA 2012 beyond-perimeter slot exemptions may be used to operate multi-aisle or widebody 

aircraft.

6. An air carrier granted a beyond-perimeter slot exemption under FAA 2012 is prohibited from transferring the 

rights to its beyond-perimeter exemptions pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 41714(j).

 

10 Section 41718(e) states, “Neither the request for, nor the granting of an exemption, under this section shall be considered for 

purposes of any Federal law a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.” 
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7. The authority granted under these exemptions is subject to all of the other requirements delineated in 14 CFR 

Part 93, Subparts K and S, including the slot use or lose provisions.

8. This Order is effective immediately, and shall remain in effect until further order of the Department. 

9. We may amend, modify, or revoke this Order at any time and without hearing. 

10. We shall serve a copy of this Order on U.S. and Canadian air carriers, the Metropolitan Washington 

Airports Authority, and the FAA’s Slot Administration Office. 

By:

SUSAN L. KURLAND

Assistant Secretary for Aviation

and International Affairs

Dated: February 24, 2012

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document will be available on the World Wide Web at:

http://www.regulations.gov