BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, DC

In the matter of

Airlines for America (A4A) and 

Regional Airlines Association (RAA)

Motion for a temporary exemption from

14 C.F.R. Part 259.4

Docket DOT-OST-2013-0084

COMMENTS OF MASFLIGHT

ON THE

MOTION OF AIRLINES FOR AMERICA (A4A)

AND REGIONAL AIRLINES ASSOCIATION (RAA)

FOR A TEMPORARY EXEMPTION FROM 14 CFR 259.4

Submitted by:

Dr. Tulinda D. Larsen

Vice President, masFlight

4833 Rugby Avenue, Suite 301

Bethesda, MD 20814

Telephone: (888) 809-2750

tulinda@masflight.com

DATED: April 26, 2013
masFlight Comments

Page 1

BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, DC

In the matter of

Airlines for America (A4A) and 

Regional Airlines Association (RAA)

Motion for a temporary exemption from

14 C.F.R. Part 259.4

Docket DOT-OST-2013-0084

DATED: April 26, 2013

COMMENTS OF MASFLIGHT ON THE

MOTION OF AIRLINES FOR AMERICA (A4A)

AND REGIONAL AIRLINES ASSOCIATION (RAA)

FOR A TEMPORARY EXEMPTION FROM 14 CFR 259.4

On April 19, 2013, industry trade associations Airlines for America (“A4A”) and 

Regional Airlines Association (“RAA”) requested temporary exemption (the “Motion”) 

from the Department’s tarmac-delay regulations for a period of at least 90 days, or until 

the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) sequestration furloughs end, whichever is 

longer. The Motion was based on predictions of substantial delay and disruption at U.S. 

airports from the FAA’s decision to implement daily ground delay programs and reduce 

air traffic control personnel as part of the sequestration implementation plan adopted in 

response to the Budget Control Act of 2011. A4A and RAA requested the Motion to 

increase operational flexibility, minimize flight cancellations and address the disruptions 

caused by the FAA’s sequestration plan. After conducting a quantitative review of flight 

operations data before and after sequestration, we find that (1) the notable increase in 

taxi-out times suggest long tarmac delays are likely under sequestration; (2) that airport 

operational gridlock conducive to long tarmac delays is driven by furlough-related FAA 

delay measures; and (3) FAA and industry estimates of 6,700 daily flights impacted this 

summer are reasonable based on initial experience under sequestration programs.
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Background

In mid-April, the FAA notified airlines and the public that beginning April 21, 

2013 ground delay programs (“GDP”) and traffic management initiatives (“TMI”) would

be implemented as a result of employee furloughs necessitated by sequestration. The 

Motion filed by the A4A and RAA on April 19, 2013 articulated the following key points 

in support of a temporary waiver of Part 259.4 during the sequestration period. 

1. FAA ground delay programs and traffic management initiatives would impact 

6,700 daily flight delays and persist through September 30, 2013. 

2. The FAA notified airlines of furloughs on April 16th providing no opportunity for 

airlines to adjust operations heading into the peak summer season. The FAA gave 

no prior indication that planned volumes for the summer season were unrealistic. 

3. The tarmac delay regulations in 14 CFR Part 259.4 may force airlines to cancel 

flights and disrupt passenger itineraries during FAA-imposed delay programs. 

4. The FAA is unable to forecast the severity of delays in advance for a given airport 

on a given day to provide sufficient advance notice to airlines and passengers.

5. Operational gridlock resulting from furloughs will likely result in large-scale 

tarmac rule violations unless airlines cancel flights to free gate and ramp capacity.

6. Strict interpretation of the tarmac delay regulations would be inappropriate and 

harmful for FAA-imposed delay programs, at least until airlines can (1) make 

systemwide schedule adjustments without disrupting passengers during the peak 

summer season, (2) develop the operational procedures to manage FAA-imposed 

delay programs while minimizing the impact on tarmac operations and (3) airlines 

and the FAA can collaboratively address the as-yet unknown challenges from 

weather and staffing issues this summer. 

The Motion concludes by requesting an exemption from the requirements of 14 

C.F.R. Part 259.4 for a period of 90 days, or until the Federal Aviation Administration 
masFlight Comments

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sequestration furloughs end, whichever is longer, to provide the flexibility to address 

unpredictable and unprecedented flight delays caused by the FAA. 

In its notification to airlines and the public, the FAA pointed specifically to likely 

staffing-related measures at New York and Los Angeles En-Route Facilities, and the 

DFW and Las Vegas TRACONs. During the first five days of FAA sequestration 

measures, from April 21 through April 25, GDP and TMI programs related to staffing 

and furloughs were implemented at a number of facilities including major airline hubs 

such as Newark, New York LaGuardia, New York Kennedy, Charlotte, Washington 

Reagan, Los Angeles International and Chicago O’Hare. 

An analysis of delay reasons cited in FAA Air Traffic Control Advisories shows 

that from April 21 through April 25, 15 airports were directly affected by FAA ground 

delay programs, ground stop programs, airborne delays and traffic management 

initiatives. The chart below shows the number of 15 minute periods each day that an 

airport was reported to have staffing-related arrival or departure delays. LAX and the 

New York area airports (LGA, EWR, JFK, and TEB) have been most affected, but the 

delays have been widespread, impacting major hub airports across the country. The 

delays almost tripled in five days from 45 quarter hour periods with staffing-related 

delays on April 21, to 169 by Thursday.

Count of Quarter Hour Periods with Staffing-Related Delays

Source: FAA Air Traffic Control Advisories

Airport April 

21

April 

22

April 

23

April 

24

April 

25

Total

CLT 29 29

DCA 34 34

DFW 17 17

DTW 9 9

EWR 4 22 30 56

HPN 9 9

IAD 5 5

IAH 2 5 7

JFK 11 9 41 61

LAX 7 36 9 23 12 87

LGA 18 23 10 50 101

ORD 16 20 36
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PHL 34 34

SFO 9 9

TEB 22 20 11 53

Total 45 88 110 135 169 547

These same airports are gate constrained, and the FAA impact was most acutely 

felt during the peak hours when substantially all gates are occupied. In cases where FAA 

delays are expected, airlines can hold aircraft at the gate before boarding, or after 

boarding with the opportunity to deplane, thus delaying the start of the “tarmac clock” by 

DOT standards. While the departure is protected from the tarmac rule, that gate remains 

occupied, and cannot be used to temporarily deplane passengers from flights already off 

the departure gate. Flights subject to extended delays after gate departure are unlikely to 

have gate resources for deplaning, and the FAA’s inability to pinpoint where and when 

delays can be expected to occur increases the likelihood that airlines will cancel flights to 

ensure gate availability if the tarmac rule is enforced. 

masFlight Comments

masFlight is a software company that offers cloud-based big data analytics 

solutions to the air transport industry. masFlight has real-time visibility into current 

airspace and airport movements and tracks airline delays, diversions, and cancellations

based on our gate-to-gate flight records for substantially all airline, charter and cargo 

flights in North America. Our data sets are collected in real-time from multiple sources, 

including airlines, airports and commercial data publishers including OAG. masFlight is 

also a subscriber to the FAA Aircraft Situational Display for Industry (“ASDI”) radar 

feed. 

masFlight conducted a data review of flight operations during the FAA furlough 

period beginning Sunday, April 21, 2013. We reviewed 241,918 flights that operated on 

or after April 21, 2013 (measured by local time). For our factual review, we identified 

taxi-out times, departure delays, and concurrent aircraft “on the tarmac” awaiting 

departure during staffing-related delay programs during the first week of sequestration. 

The analysis was prepared with data through Thursday, April 25, 2013. Since the five
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days of data available under FAA sequestration measures are not sufficient to draw longterm conclusions, we reserve the right to file updates into the docket as operations 

continue under staffing-related delay programs. 

For the flights we analyzed:

• 120,940 departures and 120,978 arrivals at the affected airports;

• 113 distinct airlines were analyzed, including both U.S. and non-U.S. flags;

• 105,836 (43.7%) were operated by regional airline affiliates; and

• 222,844 were domestic (92.1%); 19,074 were international (7.9%).

To create a historical baseline, we analyzed 968,372 flights that operated on 

Sundays through Thursdays for the period between March 24th and April 18th. We 

excluded flight operations that occurred on Fridays and Saturdays to preserve consistency 

with our post-sequestration sample set. 

Scheduled Flight Levels Under FAA Sequestration Measures Did Not Change

Significantly

Source: masFlight and OAG Schedules

Flights Scheduled Sun 4/21 Mon 4/22 Tues 4/23 Weds 4/24 Thurs 4/25

Flights Week of 4/21 23,547 24,754 23,787 24,070 24,782

Average Prior 4 Weeks 23,446 24,756 23,876 24,147 24,806

% Change 0.4% 0.0% -0.4% -0.3% -0.1%

An increase in flight operations levels has historically been associated with 

changes in taxi-out times and tarmac rule exposure. That is not the case this week, as the 

table above indicates. We confirmed that the level of scheduled flight operations under 

sequestration is similar to the level before. If sequestration continues, airlines may need 

22,000 

22,500 

23,000 

23,500 

24,000 

24,500 

25,000 

25,500 

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

Week of 3/24

Week of 3/31

Week of 4/7

Week of 4/14

Week of 4/21
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to reduce flight schedules and cancel flights, especially during the peak summer season. 

However, an increase in scheduled flights is not to blame for the delays and disruption 

observed during the first five days of FAA sequestration measures. 

FAA staffing-related delay programs create a notable increase in flights at risk 

for tarmac rule violations. We reviewed the number of aircraft awaiting runway 

departure under FAA staffing-related delay programs, and compared to normal operating 

periods. We found that staffing-related delay programs do create a backlog of flights 

awaiting departure and therefore put airlines at substantial risk for tarmac rule violations. 

The following chart counts the number of aircraft that were “on the tarmac” at 

LaGuardia on April 22nd – flights that had departed from the gate and were awaiting 

clearance to take off. It is a direct measure of the departure queue that the airport and 

regional air traffic controllers must absorb. Since schedule patterns vary by day of week, 

we compared the 22nd to the prior Mondays in April – the 1st, 8th, and 15th. 

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

5:00:006:00:007:00:008:00:009:00:00

10:00:0011:00:0012:00:0013:00:0014:00:0015:00:0016:00:0017:00:0018:00:0019:00:0020:00:0021:00:0022:00:0023:00:00

New York LGA: Aircraft on Tarmac Awaiting Departure

Post-Sequester (Apr 22) vs. Maximum Count for prior 3 Mondays

Maximum for Prior 3 Mondays Monday Apr 22nd

Period of Staffing-Related

GDP Programs
masFlight Comments

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The blue line in the chart indicates the maximum number of aircraft on the tarmac 

for that five-minute interval for each of the prior three Mondays. The red line counts the 

number of aircraft on April 22nd, and the shaded gray box represents the period of time 

when the FAA directly blamed delay programs on furlough staffing. Throughout this 

shaded period, the inability for FAA controllers to absorb departing aircraft is clearly 

indicated as a surge in aircraft awaiting departure from the runway. 

The surge in aircraft “on the tarmac” illustrates the importance of granting airlines 

the operational flexibility to manage extended taxi-out times. When FAA staffing returns 

to normal levels – as occurred in the above chart after 5pm – the number of aircraft on the 

tarmac quickly returns to historical levels. We observed similar patterns at other U.S. 

airports during the past week. 

Since April 21st, at major U.S. airports the rate of flights that have one hour or 

greater taxi-out times doubled (from 0.7% of all flights to 1.4%) versus the month prior 

to sequestration. Similarly, the rate with 31-60 minute taxi-out times increased from 

7.2% to 9.5% of all departures. These increases were most pronounced at the airports 

impacted by sequestration delays.

We conclude that FAA staffing is the primary cause of abnormal taxi-out times, 

and the data show compellingly why airlines have requested flexibility with the tarmac 

rule. The surge in (1) aircraft held out on the tarmac by the FAA and (2) taxi-out times in 

general portend gridlock in the ramp area if airlines must return flights to the gate by the 

three hour mark. This will wreak havoc on flight cancellations, disruption and passenger 

itineraries. The FAA’s inability to pinpoint when and where staffing disruption will 

occur with sufficient advance notice for airlines to adjust schedules accordingly 

(minimizing passenger disruption) justifies the Motion’s assertion that operational 

problems will occur this summer at key hubs if flexibility is not granted. 

Conclusions

masFlight’s preliminary review of airline flight operational performance 

beginning on April 21, 2013 demonstrated that the FAA’s sequestration response 
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significantly increases the risk of extended tarmac delays. FAA staffing measures create 

delays and disruption that are unpredictable and severe when they do occur. During a 

period of relatively good weather and few thunderstorms, FAA furloughs disrupted travel 

for up to 130,000 passengers daily. The disruption during severe weather events can be 

expected to be even greater and cause significant operational issues at airports. During 

the summer season when thunderstorms are commonplace, the FAA’s projection of 6,700 

daily flights being delayed due to sequestration impact seems to be reasonable. We 

project that more than 500,000 daily passengers will be impacted.1

A core issue is the FAA’s inability to pinpoint where and when staffing-related 

delay programs will occur. As our LaGuardia example illustrates, staffing-related delay 

measures create an immediate and substantial backlog of flights trapped on the tarmac 

awaiting takeoff. Extended delays block the taxiways and ramp area needed to return to 

gate, deplane passengers and service aircraft before the three-hour tarmac limit. Airlines 

are subjected to tarmac delay risk that is outside of their control. When FAA staffing 

returns to normal levels, the flights held on tarmac are released for takeoff and 

equilibrium returns. 

In the absence of a tarmac rule exemption, it can be expected that airlines will be 

required to cancel flights to free gate resources and redirect personnel. These 

cancellations can be expected to increase with the peak summer season and delay 

substantially more passengers when the ability to re-accommodate travelers in a timely 

manner is constrained by high load factors. We respectfully request that the Department 

consider all measures to increase airline flexibility in responding to FAA-driven tarmac 

delay risks. 

Respectfully submitted,

Dr. Tulinda Larsen

Vice President

masFlight

4833 Rugby Avenue, Suite 301

 1 Based on an average scheduled departure capacity of 118.1 seats for all flights departing JFK, LGA, 

EWR, DFW, LAX, LAS and ORD on April 24, 2013. 
masFlight Comments

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Bethesda, MD 20814

Telephone: (888) 809-2750

tulinda@masflight.com