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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 224 (Wednesday, November 20, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 91544-91545]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26820]

[[Page 91544]]

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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.

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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: [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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\
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    \1\ Times included in this notice are local time.
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    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.
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    \2\ The 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.
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    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\
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    \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.
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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

[[Page 91545]]

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, as-
needed 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.
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    \4\ Staffing-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).
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    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
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