U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

GENERAL COUNSEL 

December 6, 2013 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

• ..... , .. ; 

Certified Mail- Return Receipt Requested and Electronic Mail 

David A. Berg 

Airlines for America 

1301 Pennsylvania Ave, NW 

Suite 1100 

Washington, DC 20004-1707 

Re: DOT-OST-2013-0152; Response to A4A request for limited waiver of 14 CFR § 259.4 

Related to Runway Closure at LaGuardia International Airport on July 22,2013 

Dear Mr. Berg: 

This letter is in response to your letter dated August 8, 2013, in which Airlines for America 

(A4A) requested a waiver from the three-hour requirement of the Department's tarmac delay 

rule, 14 CFR 259 .4(b )(1 ), with respect to all flights that experienced tarmac delays of three hours 

or more at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) on July 22, 2013, due to the incident involving Southwest 

Airlines flight 345. 

On July 22, 2013, at approximately 5:45 p.m., Southwest Airlines flight 345 experienced a 

collapsed nose gear upon landing at LGA. Following the incident, the airport authority 

immediately closed LGA and it remained closed until 7:20 p.m. Twelve domestic flights 

experienced lengthy tarmac delays at LGA during the period of the airport closure. 1 We 

investigated the flight delays and have determined that each of the twelve flights initially pushed 

back from their respective gates prior to Southwest Airlines flight 345 landing at LGA. The 

twelve flights were either on the ramp or tarmac when the incident occurred and were unable to 

take off or deplane passengers by returning to the gate or through another method because of the 

airport closure. Because of the extenuating circumstances surrounding the Southwest incident, 

including the airport closure, we have determined that each of the twelve flight delays falls 

within the safety- and air traffic control-related exceptions of the tarmac delay rule, 14 CFR 

259.4(b)(1)(i)-(ii), and that none of the tarmac delays resulted in a violation of our rules. As 

such, we have closed our investigation of each of the twelve flights. Accordingly, we find 

A4A's request for a waiver of the three-hour requirement to be moot and will close the docket. 

1 The A4A letter identified the twelve domestic flights listed on the attached 'Schedule A' and one international 

flight. The international flight was delayed less than four hours and therefore pursuant to 14 CFR 259 .4(b )(2) was 

not a covered tarmac delay. 
Thank you again for your time raising this issue. If you have any questions about this matter, 

please contact Laura Jennings of my staff, or Kimberly Graber, Chief, Consumer Protection and 

Competition Law Branch, at (202) 366-9342. 

~uel w~ Podberesky 

~stant General Counsel 

Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings 
------'-------~"'-'---~ 

Schedule A 

AIR WISCONSIN 1 3723 1 LGA PIT 7/22/2013 Origin Airport I 195 

AMERICAN I 1467 I LGA MIA 7/22/2013 Or 

MHT 7/22/2013 Origin Airport I 184 

IND 7/22/2013 Origin Airport 1 217 

13 Origin Airport I 202 

I 

DELTA 1619 LGA MSP 

EXPRESSJET 5432 LGA BNA 1 7/22/2013 1 Origin Airport I 181 

745 

241 

1899 LGA CLT 7/22/2013 Origin Airport 210