AFS-11-459-E October 5, 2011

Exemption No. 8684C Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2006-23640

Mr. Lyle Hogg Vice President, Flight Operations US Airways, Inc. 4000 East Sky Harbor Boulevard Phoenix, AZ 85034

Dear Mr. Hogg:

This letter is to inform you that we have granted your petition to extend Exemption No. 8684, as amended. It explains the basis for our decision and describes its effect.

The Basis for Our Decision

By letter dated Septem ber 13, 2011, you petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on behalf of US Airways, Inc. (US Ai rways), for an extension of Exemption No. 8684, as amended. That exemption from § 121.619 of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) allows US Airways, its certified disp atchers, and its pilots in command (PIC) to dispatch flights to domestic airports at which, for at least 1 hour before and 1 hour after the estimated time of arrival at the destination airport, the appropriate weather reports or forecasts, or any combination of them, indicate the ceiling may be reduced from at least 2,000 feet to 1,000 feet above the airport elevation, and visibility may be reduced from at

least 3 statute miles to 2 statute miles.

In your petition, you indicate that there has been no change in the conditions and reasons relative to public interest and safety that were the basis for granting the original exemption.

The FAA has determined that good cause exists for not publishing a summary of the petition

in the Federal Register because the requested extension of the exemption would not set a precedent, and any delay in acting on this petition would be detrimental to US Airways.2

Our Decision

The FAA has determ ined that the justification for the issuance of Exemption No. 8684, as amended, remains valid with respect to this exemption and is in the public interest. Therefore, under the authority provided by 49 U.S.C. 40113 and 44701, which the FAA Administrator has delegated to me, I grant your petition, subject to the conditions and

limitations below.

Conditions and Limitations

1. Before conducting operations under this exemption, US Airways must obtain amended operations specifications (OpSpec) that provide for operations under this exemption.

2. Operations under this exemption are limited to only those destination airports in the 48 contiguous States and the District of Columbia.

3. Operations under this exemption are limited to only those airports at which an operable category (CAT) II or CAT III instrument landing system (ILS) is available

for use.

4. Before conducting operations under this exemption, US Airways must demonstrate to its assigned FAA principal operations inspector’s (POI) satisfaction that:

a. Each US Airways dispatcher has a system available to display the location of each flight within 3 minutes of real time;

b. Each US Airways dispatch facility has a system that provides its dispatchers with overlays of weather returns updated at least once every 5 minutes;

c. Each US Airways dispatch facility has a system that provides its dispatchers with a display of the specific aircraft routing as assigned by air traffic control (ATC) and actual filed flight plan routing;

d. Each US Airways dispatcher has a system available to display locations of other airborne aircraft, including aircraft of other operators;

e. Each US Airways dispatch facility has a system available that provides its dispatchers with a display of planned and actual fuel at regular intervals along the route and the difference between planned and actual fuel;

f. Each US Airways dispatch facility has a system available that automatically alerts its dispatchers to special weather updates, changes in weather reports, forecasts, and/or other significant weather-related reports, and ensures that these can be relayed to flightcrews in an expeditious manner;

g. Each US Airways dispatcher is provided the capability to access the services of a qualified meteorologist approved by the POI whenever the dispatcher believes that consultation is necessary to ensure safety of operations under this3

exemption. The presence of an approved Enhanced Weather Information System satisfies this requirement;

h. Each US Airways dispatcher must have the capability to expeditiously recompute projected arrival fuel from a “point aloft” to the intended destination in the event conditions occur that negatively impact the flight; and

i. The dispatch release will contain a statement for each flight dispatched under this exemption such as “ALTERNATE WEATHER EXEMPTION APPLIED. REFERENCE (APPROPRIATE DOCUMENT SUCH AS A FLIGHT OPERATIONS MANUAL (FOM), GENERAL OPERATIONS MANUAL (GOM), etc).” The certificate holder may choose to use other wording, if desired, but the meaning must be clear.

5. US Airways must maintain at least CAT II approach authorization, OpSpec C059, for those fleets to which this exemption applies and each aircraft must have fully operating equipment needed for CAT II ILS approaches for that aircraft to operate under this exemption.

6. At the time of dispatch, the flightcrew must be qualified to conduct at least a CAT II approach. PICs with less than the requisite minimum hours specified in 14 CFR § 121.652 cannot be used in operations under this exemption unless the operator also holds Exemption No. 5549, the PIC has been trained in accordance with the requirements of that exemption, and all of the conditions specified by Exemption

No. 5549 are met.

7. Operations are not permitted under this exemption at any airport at which thunderstorms are reported or forecast from 1 hour before through 1 hour after the estimated arrival time if such reports or forecasts are in either or both the main body or the remarks section of the weather report or the weather forecast. Furthermore, US Airways cannot use Exemption No. 3585P issued to Air Transport Association of America, Inc., members (including US Ai rways), or any subsequent exemption granting similar relief regarding any kind of forecast of thunderstorms at the destination airport in conjunction with any operation conducted under this exemption.

8. Each certificated US Airways dispatcher and PIC, who conducts operations under this exemption, must be provided with a copy of pertinent parts of this exemption. Operations under this exemption are permitted by US Airways dispatchers and US Airways PICs but are not required.

9. Use of this exemption in operations to destinations outside the contiguous United States is prohibited. US Airways is authorized to use this exemption in operations to airports within the 48 contiguous States and the District of Columbia from airports outside those boundaries pr ovided US Airways also holds OpSpec A012 and operations are conducted in accordance with the appropriate provisions of the OpSpec as they pertain to operations from airports listed in Table I thereof.4

10. US Airways must provide the Administrator, by the 15 th day of each month, reports that include the information listed below, during the preceding calendar month. The POI is authorized to delete this reporting requirement once US Airways has conducted operations under this exemption satisfactorily for at least 24 continuous calendar months and sufficient data to thoroughly evaluate operational performance have been obtained. Reports must contain the following information:

a. The total number of flights operated by US Airways under domestic rules to destinations within the 48 contiguous States and the District of Columbia;

b. The total number of flights separated under this exemption, including those flights conducted under the appropriate provisions and limitations of OpSpec A012. For each flight operated, the dates, airport pairs, flight numbers, aircraft make/model/size, trended or graphical summary of flight planned fuel vs. actual arrival fuel, and contingency fuel must be listed. Report format shall be in chronological order by fleet type;

c. The total number of flights that divert to an alternate airport;

d. The total number of flights that divert to an alternate airport that are operated under this exemption and the reason for each diversion, such as weather conditions, mechanical problems, fuel quantity, passenger problems, air traffic, crewmember, or any other reason. US Airways must fully document each diversion; and

e. The total number of US Airways flights, operated under this exemption, that declare an emergency and the reason for such declaration, or during which flight a low fuel state occurs that results in actions being taken by ATC and/or dispatch to provide priority handling, even if no emergency is declared.

The Effect of Our Decision

Our decision extends the term ination date of Exemption No. 8684, as amended, to January 31, 2014, unless sooner superseded or rescinded.

Sincerely,

/s/ Raymond Towles Acting Director, Flight Standards

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