91544 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 224 / Wednesday, November 20, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

1Times included in this notice are local time. 

2The FAA generally applies the WSG to the 

extent there is no conflict with U.S. law or 

regulation. The FAA recognizes the WSG has been 

replaced by the Worldwide Airports Slot Guidelines 

(WASG) edition 1, effective June 1, 2020, and 

subsequently WASG edition 2, effective July 1, 

2022. The WASG is published jointly by Airports 

Council International-World, IATA, and the 

Worldwide Airport Coordinators Group (WWACG). 

While the FAA is considering whether to 

implement certain changes to the Guidelines in the 

United States, it will continue to apply WSG 

edition 9. 

3 33 FR 17896 (Dec. 3, 1968). The FAA codified 

the rules for operating at high-density traffic 

airports in 14 CFR part 93, subpart K. The HDR 

requires carriers to hold a reservation, known as a 

‘‘slot,’’ for each takeoff or landing under instrument 

flight rules at the high-density traffic airports. 

Currently, only operations at DCA are limited by 

the HDR. 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 93 

Construction-Related Scheduling 

Relief Concerning Operations at 

Newark Liberty International Airport, 

Chicago O’Hare International Airport, 

Los Angeles International Airport, San 

Francisco International Airport, and 

Ronald Reagan Washington National 

Airport, March 1, 2025 Through June 

15, 2025, and September 1, 2025, 

Through December 31, 2025 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), Department of 

Transportation. 

ACTION: Notification of limited waiver of 

slot usage requirement and limited 

scheduling relief. 

SUMMARY: This notification announces a 

limited, conditional policy for 

prioritizing returned operations at 

Newark Liberty International Airport 

(EWR) due to a construction-related 

runway closure at EWR for purposes of 

establishing a carrier’s operational 

baseline in the next corresponding 

scheduling seasons. A ‘‘returned 

operation’’ is any planned operation 

included in the initially approved 

schedules that a carrier moved or will 

not operate due to the effort to reach the 

targeted reduced schedule throughout 

the construction period at EWR. In 

addition, the FAA will provide similar 

limited, conditional relief at Chicago 

O’Hare International Airport (ORD), Los 

Angeles International Airport (LAX), 

and San Francisco International Airport 

(SFO) under the FAA’s Level 2 schedule 

facilitation process as well as a limited, 

conditional waiver of minimum usage 

requirements at Ronald Reagan 

Washington National Airport (DCA), for 

impacted flights between EWR and the 

listed airports. 

DATES: This action is effective 

November 20, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Requests may be submitted 

by mail to the Slot Administration 

Office, System Operations Services, 

AJR–0, Room 300W, 800 Independence 

Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591, or 

by email to: 7-awa-slotadmin@faa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

questions concerning this notice 

contact: Al Meilus, Capacity and Slot 

Analysis, FAA ATO System Operations 

Services, AJR–G5, Federal Aviation 

Administration, 800 Independence 

Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591; 

telephone 202–267–2822; email 

al.meilus@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notification provides relief that will 

enable carriers to reduce operations at 

EWR without unduly impacting 

schedules in subsequent seasons during 

the following runway closure periods: 

(1) Weekend closures from March 1, 

2025, to April 14, 2025, and September 

1, 2025, to December 31, 2025, from 

Friday at 11:00 p.m. through 5:00 a.m. 

on Sunday; and 

(2) Daily closures from April 15, 2025, 

to June 15, 2025, for all hours. 

Reducing operations will help prevent 

delays, optimize the efficient use of the 

airport’s available resources, and deliver 

passengers to their destinations more 

reliably and on time. 

Background 

EWR will undergo airside 

construction projects conducted in 

several stages from 2024 through 2026 

with varying impacts on airport 

capacity. 

Weekend closures of Runway 4L–22R 

will be scheduled from March 1, 2025, 

to April 14, 2025, and September 1, 

2025, to December 31, 2025, from Friday 

at 11:00 p.m. through 5:00 a.m. on 

Sunday.1

On April 15, 2025, EWR is scheduled 

to begin rehabilitation of Runway 4L– 

22R. This work will cause the 

continuous closure of Runway 4L–22R 

for 60 days, to June 15, 2025. Runways 

4R–22L and 11–29 will remain 

operational during this period. 

The FAA has designated EWR, ORD, 

LAX, and SFO, as Level 2 airports under 

the Worldwide Slot Guidelines (WSG).2

The FAA does not allocate slots, apply 

historic precedence, or impose 

minimum usage requirements at EWR. 

Level 2 schedule facilitation depends 

upon close and continuous discussions 

and voluntary agreement between 

airlines and the FAA to reduce 

congestion. At Level 2 airports, the FAA 

generally provides priority 

consideration for flights approved by 

the FAA and operated by the carrier in 

those approved times in the prior 

scheduling season when the FAA 

reviews proposed flights for facilitation 

in the next corresponding scheduling 

season. Only those flights that were 

actually operated as approved in the 

prior scheduling season would generally 

receive priority for the next 

corresponding scheduling season. 

However, the FAA notes that the usual 

Level 2 processes include flexibility for 

the facilitator to prioritize planned 

flights, which are canceled in advance 

or on the day of the scheduled operation 

due to operational impacts that are 

beyond the control of the carrier. 

At DCA, each slot must be used a 

minimum of 80 percent of the time. At 

DCA, the FAA will recall any slot not 

used at least 80 percent of the time over 

a two-month period. The FAA may 

waive the 80 percent minimum usage 

requirement if a highly unusual and 

unpredictable condition beyond the 

control of the slot-holding air carrier 

affects carrier operations for a period of 

nine consecutive days or more at DCA.3

FAA Analysis 

The current targeted scheduling limit 

at EWR is 77 operations per hour with 

42 operations per half hour. The 

targeted maximum number of scheduled 

arrivals and departures, respectively, is 

42 per hour and 23 per half hour daily 

from 6:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. ET. 

Due to the volume of flights arriving 

and departing EWR, the weekend 

closures from March 1, 2025, to April 

14, 2025, and Sepmber 1, 2025, to 

December 31, 2025, and the daily 

closure of Runway 4L–22R from April 

15, 2025, to June 15, 2025, will 

significantly affect carriers’ ability to 

operate reliably and on time. Absent 

increased scheduling flexibility during 

the construction period, the FAA 

anticipates a high likelihood of 

congestion, delays, and cancellations at 

EWR, with related impact at ORD, LAX, 

SFO, and DCA. The runway closure is 

expected to impact carrier operations at 

EWR in two phases throughout the day 

for both arrivals and departures. For 

arrivals, demand is higher from 6:00 

a.m. through 2:00 p.m., and lowers 

slightly from 3:00 p.m. through the end 

of the day. For departures, demand is 

higher from 6:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m., 

and lowers slightly from 7:00 p.m. 

through the end of the day. 

The FAA modeled two scenarios of 

the expected delays at EWR for these 

two phases of the day for arrival and 

departures respectively: one scenario 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 224 / Wednesday, November 20, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 91545 

4Staffing-Related Relief Concerning Operations at 

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, John 

F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia 

Airport, and Newark Liberty International Airport, 

October 27, 2024, through March 29, 2025 (Winter 

2024/2025) and March 30, 2025, through October 

25, 2025 (Summer 2025). 89 FR 49256 (June 11, 

2024). 

without any mitigation measures, and 

one scenario with arrival limit 

mitigation measures in place. The 

mitigation measures incorporate Air 

Traffic Control (ATC) data used to 

assess capacity at EWR throughout the 

construction period. These mitigation 

measures align with the number of 

operations that ATC finds to be 

sustainable during the runway closure, 

while accounting for the differing 

demand profiles. 

For the scenario without any 

mitigation measures, the FAA estimates 

approximately 65% of total arrivals 

would be delayed by an average of 55.8 

minutes per arrival, and 92% of total 

departures would be delayed by an 

average of 86.6 minutes per departure. 

These arrival delays would be 

unrecoverable throughout the day. 

The FAA then modeled a scenario 

that limited operations to no more than 

35 arrivals per hour through 2:00 p.m., 

and no more than 31 arrivals per hour 

from 3:00 p.m. to the end of the day. 

The FAA also modeled operations with 

no more than 35 departures per hour 

through 4:00 p.m., and no more than 31 

departures per hour from 5:00 p.m. 

through the end of the day. The FAA 

arrived at these arrival and departure 

limits based on analysis of historical 

data from the previous closure of 

Runway 4L–22R due to construction in 

2014. These numbers reflect the median 

rates that EWR was able to sustain 

under the constraint of a runway 

closure. 

With these mitigation measures in 

place, the FAA estimates that 

approximately 21% of total arrivals 

would experience an average delay of 

about 38 minutes per delayed arrival, or 

an average of 7.9 minutes of delay per 

arrival, and approximately 44% of total 

departures would experience an average 

delay of about 39.9 minutes per delayed 

departure, or an average of 17.5 minutes 

of delay per departure. 

The FAA determined that the 

mitigation measures will balance 

efficient and timely operations at EWR 

during the construction period and limit 

the impact on carrier’s scheduled 

operations for the convenience of the 

flying public. Although the potential for 

some delays may still occur in the 

evening hours, a more stringent hourly 

targeted limit would result in some 

airport capacity being under-utilized. 

Decision 

The FAA has determined that the 

runway closures at EWR warrant 

limited, conditional schedule relief 

because the impacts to operations are 

beyond the carriers’ control and extend 

throughout 2025. The targeted schedule 

reductions detailed below apply to both 

the weekend closures March 1, 2025, to 

April 14, 2025, and September 1, 2025, 

to December 31, 2025, and the daily 

closures from April 15, 2025, through 

June 15, 2025. 

For arrivals, the FAA requests that 

carriers reduce operations to no more 

than 35 arrivals per hour from 6:00 a.m. 

through 2:00 p.m., and no more than 31 

arrivals per hour from 3:00 p.m. through 

the end of the day, without moving 

operations into the adjacent hours. For 

departures, the FAA requests that 

carriers reduce operations to no more 

than 35 departures per hour from 6:00 

a.m. through 4:00 p.m., and no more 

than 31 departures per hour from 5:00 

p.m. through the end of the day. The 

FAA will not approve any new 

requested timings during the runway 

closure period. These targeted 

scheduling limits are effective from 

Friday at 11:00 p.m. through 5:00 a.m. 

on Sunday from March 1, 2025, to April 

14, 2025, and September 1, 2025, to 

December 31, 2025, and continuously 

from April 15, 2025, through June 15, 

2025. 

Recognizing that the Summer 2025 

Scheduling Season begins on March 30, 

2025, the FAA will work with carriers 

to reduce schedules, if needed, through 

the transition from the Winter 2024/ 

2025 Scheduling Season to the Summer 

2025 Scheduling Season where the 

runway closures overlap with 2024/ 

2025 Winter schedules. 

The FAA is also extending a limited, 

conditional waiver from minimum 

usage requirements at DCA for service to 

and from EWR, and providing similar 

relief at ORD, LAX and SFO under the 

Level 2 process for approved schedules 

to and from EWR. Carriers may also 

choose to use those slots at DCA, or the 

approved runway times at ORD, LAX 

and SFO, for operations to airports other 

than EWR. If carriers choose to reduce 

their schedules between EWR–DCA or 

EWR and other Level 2 airports, the 

FAA encourages, to the extent 

practicable, carriers to utilize their slots 

or approved schedules to operate to 

other destinations. 

Additionally, the FAA understands 

that terminal-related construction 

projects and shortened runways are 

planned at EWR between September 1, 

2024, and December 31, 2025. The FAA 

will continue to work with the Port 

Authority of New York and New Jersey 

(PANYNJ) and other stakeholders 

throughout the various phases of this 

project. The FAA requests that carriers 

submit requests for relief associated 

with the terminal construction separate 

from this policy on an individual, asneeded basis, for the FAA’s 

consideration. If needed, based on 

future analyses, the FAA may establish 

additional schedule reduction periods 

to accommodate these phases of the 

construction project. 

Finally, the FAA notes that the 

Staffing-Related Relief is in place from 

October 27, 2024, through October 25, 

2025.4 This relief cannot be combined 

with the Staffing-Related Relief. 

For the weekend runway closures 

from March 1, 2025, to April 14, 2025, 

and September 1, 2025, to December 31, 

2025, and the daily runway closures 

from April 15, 2025, through June 15, 

2025, the FAA will recognize priority of 

approved schedules or the historical 

precedence of related slots, subject to 

the following conditions: 

(1) Slots or approved schedules for 

initial use in the Summer 2025 and 

Winter 2025/2026 scheduling seasons 

are not eligible for relief. 

(2) Slots granted historic precedence 

for subsequent seasons based on this 

relief are not eligible for transfer if the 

slot holder ceases all operations at the 

airport. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on November 

13, 2024. 

Daniel J. Murphy, 

Acting Vice President, System Operations 

Services. 

[FR Doc. 2024–26820 Filed 11–18–24; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY 

COMMISSION 

16 CFR Part 1226 

[Docket No. CPSC–2013–0014] 

Safety Standard for Soft Infant and 

Toddler Carriers 

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety 

Commission. 

ACTION: Direct final rule. 

SUMMARY: In March 2014, the U.S. 

Consumer Product Safety Commission 

(CPSC or Commission) published a 

safety standard for soft infant and 

toddler carriers under section 104 of the 

Consumer Product Safety Improvement 

Act of 2008 (CPSIA). The standard 

incorporated by reference ASTM 

F2236–14, Standard Consumer Safety 

Specification for Soft Infant and 

Toddler Carriers, the voluntary standard 


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