2646 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 10 / Thursday, January 15, 2009 / Notices 

1 74 FR 845 (Jan. 8, 2009). 2 73 FR 79,201 (Dec. 24, 2008). 

law to a maximum of 180 days, will be 

completed on or before June 21, 2009. 

The FAA’S detailed evaluation will be 

conducted under the provisions of 14 

CFR Part 150, § 150.33. The primary 

considerations in the evaluation process 

are whether the proposed measures may 

reduce the level of aviation safety, 

create an undue burden on interstate or 

foreign commerce, or be reasonably 

consistent with obtaining the goal of 

reducing existing non-compatible land 

uses and preventing the introduction of 

additional non-compatible land uses. 

Interested persons are invited to 

comment on the proposed program with 

specific reference to these factors. All 

comments, other than those properly 

addressed to local land use authorities, 

will be considered by the FAA to the 

extent practicable. Copies of the noise 

exposure maps, the FAA’s evaluation of 

the maps, and the proposed noise 

compatibility program are available for 

examination at the following locations: 

Federal Aviation Administration, 

Minneapolis Airport District Office, 

6020 28th Ave., South, Minneapolis, 

MN 55450. 

General Mitchell International Airport, 

5300 South Howell Avenue, 

Milwaukee, WI 53207. 

Questions may be directed to the 

individual named above under the 

heading, FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. 

Issued in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 

December 24, 2008. 

Robert Huber, 

Manager, Minneapolis Airports District 

Office, FAA Great Lakes Region. 

[FR Doc. E9–535 Filed 1–14–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–12–M 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

[Docket No. FAA–2006–25755] 

Operating Limitations at New York’s 

LaGuardia Airport; Notice of Order 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of Amendment to Order. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA) is amending its 

December 12, 2006 Order, which 

temporarily capped the scheduled 

operations at New York’s LaGuardia 

Airport (LaGuardia) pending the 

implementation of a longer-term 

regulation to manage congestion there. 

In particular, we are amending the 

Order to move toward an hourly limit of 

71 operations from 6 a.m. through 9:59 

p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through 

Friday, and 12 noon through 9:59 p.m., 

Eastern Time, on Sunday. To move 

toward this new hourly limit, we do not 

through this amendment force air 

carriers to relinquish Operating 

Authorizations at the airport. Instead, 

the FAA will accept voluntary flight 

reductions for the duration of the Order, 

whereupon the FAA will retire the 

surrendered Operating Authorizations 

until an hourly average of 71 scheduled 

operations is achieved. In the event that 

the current final rule takes effect, that 

rule would impose a reduction in 

scheduled service using the air carriers’ 

base of operations during the week of 

September 28, 2008. The FAA 

published that rule on October 10, 2008, 

and it is presently stayed pending 

judicial review. If it proves necessary to 

require a reduction in scheduled 

operations through a future amendment 

of the Order, air carriers that voluntarily 

surrender Operating Authorizations 

under this initiative will be credited 

with voluntary schedule reductions that 

they commit to on or before February 2, 

2009. 

The FAA will accept voluntarily 

offered schedule reductions through 

February 2, 2009, and expects air 

carriers to suspend service at LaGuardia 

under this arrangement on or before 

May 31, 2009. The FAA separately 

extended the Order’s expiration until 

11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on October 

24, 2009.1

If you wish to review the background 

documents or comments received in 

relation to this amendment, you may go 

to http://www.regulations.gov at any 

time and follow the online instructions 

for accessing the electronic docket. You 

may also go to the U.S. Department of 

Transportation’s Docket Operations in 

Room W12–140 on the ground floor of 

the West Building at 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, between 

9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Eastern Time, 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. 

DATES: This amendment is effective on 

the date of publication. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Gerry Shakley, System Operations 

Services, Air Traffic Organization; 

telephone—(202) 267–9424; e-mail— 

gerry.shakley@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The FAA briefly outlined the history 

of congestion at LaGuardia and the 

FAA’s management of the problem in 

the proposal for these amendments.2

The problem, stated succinctly, is that 

the current cap of 75 scheduled 

operations per hour is very close to the 

maximum throughput for LaGuardia’s 

two-runway configuration in optimal 

meteorological and operational 

conditions. If there are delays due to 

adverse weather or other operational 

reasons, a limit of 75 scheduled 

operations simply does not permit the 

airport a significant opportunity to 

recover, often consigning the airport to 

delays for the rest of the day. 

The FAA’s experience in managing 

congestion at other airports reflects that 

scheduled service short of maximum 

airport throughput permits needed 

flexibility to restore the schedule in 

many instances when the airport falls 

behind the published schedules. The 

FAA’s proposal and this amendment are 

intended to give LaGuardia an 

additional margin of operational 

flexibility, providing increased 

reliability for passengers and others who 

depend on efficient air transportation. 

Depending on the air carriers’ response 

to this initiative, LaGuardia passengers 

and air carriers can expect varying 

levels of relief from congestion-related 

delay. 

II. Discussion of the Written 

Submissions 

A. An Hourly Cap of 71 Scheduled 

Operations at LaGuardia Strikes an 

Appropriate Balance Between Airport 

Throughput and Operational Efficiency 

The Port Authority of New York and 

New Jersey (Port Authority) contends 

that evidence is lacking that the 

currently hourly cap of 75 scheduled 

operations is too high. Instead, the Port 

Authority advocates that the FAA focus 

exclusively on operational 

improvements that might incrementally 

increase the maximum throughput of 

the airport’s two-runway configuration. 

Contrary to the Port Authority’s 

intimation, the FAA continues to 

advance short-, intermediate-, and longterm initiatives that will improve 

LaGuardia’s operating efficiency. The 

FAA achieved many such initiatives in 

2008 and will field many more in 2009. 

There are limits to the gains that can be 

achieved at LaGuardia, given the 

airport’s physical constraints, however. 

Over the near term while the Order 

remains in effect, these operational 

improvements will not make an hourly 

rate of 75 scheduled operations 

consistently achievable on an average 

day. Accordingly, the FAA determined 

that a modest, voluntary operational cut 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 10 / Thursday, January 15, 2009 / Notices 2647 

3The Port Authority also notes that, in contrast 

to the FAA’s proposal, the FAA’s 2004 airport 

benchmark report concluded that 75 scheduled 

operations per hour was within an appropriate 

range for LaGuardia. As American Airlines observes 

in its supplemental comments, LaGuardia’s 

performance receded markedly after 2004 before 

improving modestly in 2008. 4 73 FR 48,428 (Aug. 19, 2008). 

merited enough consideration to solicit 

the public’s comments. 

The Port Authority also asserts that 

LaGuardia’s on-time performance has 

recently improved, negating the need for 

a reduction in scheduled operations. In 

particular, the Port Authority points to 

the airport’s performance in 2008, 

which was slightly better than its 

performance in 2007. 

LaGuardia’s on-time performance in 

2007 was the airport’s second worst 

performance in its history, falling only 

behind 2000, when operations at 

LaGuardia were nearly unconstrained. 

As a result, a modest improvement in 

2008, while noteworthy, does not make 

the airport objectively efficient. Indeed, 

the comments received on the FAA’s 

proposal do not bear out the Port 

Authority’s assertion. None of the air 

carrier and passenger interest 

commenters expressed satisfaction with 

LaGuardia’s current performance. To the 

contrary, such commenters uniformly 

expressed at least general support for 

the FAA effort to improve LaGuardia’s 

operational efficiency through 

operational reductions. Moreover, one 

air carrier expressed concern that the 

FAA’s effort to trim LaGuardia to 71 

hourly scheduled operations does not 

cut deeply enough. The FAA is satisfied 

that its proposal to reduce scheduled 

operations at the airport through the end 

of the Order is appropriate.3

B. The Suggested Variations on the 

FAA’s Proposal Would Have 

Undesirable Consequences 

Three air carrier commenters—Delta 

Air Lines, U.S. Airways, and Midwest 

Airlines—contend that adjustments to 

the FAA’s proposal might generate 

additional operational reductions. 

Among the alternatives, one or more of 

these carriers suggest a temporary 

waiver of the Order’s use-or-lose 

provisions for the duration of the Order. 

They also suggest that the FAA state 

that it could return the Operating 

Authorizations to the air carrier that 

surrenders it at or before the conclusion 

of the Order. 

The FAA has rarely afforded air 

carriers a temporary waiver of the useor-lose requirements associated with the 

operating authority at capacityconstrained airports. The rare instances 

have typically resulted from 

unpredictable circumstances that make 

it unreasonable to expect usage at or 

above the minimum 80% threshold. The 

problem with such a program in the 

present context is that there is no simple 

way to limit its effect with any 

precision. In an environment in which 

many air carriers may be interested in 

initiating service at LaGuardia, the most 

problematic result could be an 

underutilization of the existing airport 

capacity coupled with an inability to 

permit new entrant service. This result, 

too, would be an inefficient use of 

airport capacity and perhaps the only 

result that would be worse than 

overutilization. 

The suggestion that the FAA should 

promise to return the surrendered 

Operating Authorization to the 

surrendering air carriers is equally 

problematic. Most or all the air carrier 

and passenger interest commenters 

recognize that a reduction in the hourly 

cap at LaGuardia is necessary to reduce 

congestion-related delay. The airport’s 

delay statistics reflect that it is 

significantly overscheduled, and the air 

carriers would ideally participate 

proportionally in correcting the 

situation without any promise of future 

enrichment. If the FAA must force 

reductions in service at a later date, it 

will do so; however, it would be 

disingenuous at this point to permit an 

impression that LaGuardia will soon 

return to 75 scheduled operations per 

hour. 

Delta Air Lines also suggests that, in 

lieu of the proposed reduction in 

scheduled operations, the FAA should 

make further reductions in the hourly 

operations of unscheduled operations. 

The FAA recently halved, from 6 to 3, 

the number of hourly Operating 

Authorizations available for 

unscheduled operations at LaGuardia 

during peak hours.4 We do not agree 

that a further reduction in unscheduled 

operations is appropriate at this time. 

C. The FAA Anticipates That Any 

Voluntary Reductions Under the Order 

Could Be Credited Toward a Future, 

Required Schedule Reduction at 

LaGuardia 

American Airlines proposes that the 

FAA should credit an air carrier with 

any voluntary reductions the carrier 

makes in its scheduled operations in the 

event that a future mandatory schedule 

reduction at LaGuardia is necessary. 

Delta Air Lines opposes the suggestion. 

The final rule related to scheduled 

operations at LaGuardia, which is 

currently stayed pending judicial 

review, called for a reduction in 

scheduled operations at LaGuardia to 71 

per hour. If the relevant portion of the 

final rule ultimately goes into effect, the 

FAA’s proposal to amend the Order 

noted that the rule would draw such 

reductions from each air carrier’s base of 

operations at LaGuardia during the 

week of September 28, 2008. This 

provision of the rule would effectively 

restore the operations voluntarily 

discontinued under this amendment for 

the purpose of the withdrawal required 

by the October 10, 2008, final rule. 

In the event that the portion of the 

October 10 rule reducing scheduled 

operations at LaGuardia does not go into 

effect, however, it remains possible that 

the FAA will further extend the 

duration of this Order and propose a 

mandatory mechanism to reduce the 

hourly scheduled operations at 

LaGuardia. Should mandatory 

operational reductions occur under a 

future amendment to this Order, any air 

carrier that voluntarily reduces its 

scheduled operations under this 

amendment to the Order will receive 

credit for the voluntary reductions that 

it takes now. Should a future reduction 

in LaGuardia’s scheduled operations 

take place under a new rulemaking 

action, the FAA also anticipates that 

credit for an air carrier’s current, 

voluntary schedule reductions would be 

afforded there, as well. The FAA 

recognizes that to do otherwise would 

tend to discourage air carriers from 

voluntarily contributing to an 

undertaking that the air carrier 

commenters agree will bring a needed 

improvement to the efficient operation 

of the airport. 

III. The Final Amendment 

The FAA is amending paragraph A.1 

of the Order’s ordering language to 

reflect that 71 hourly Operating 

Authorizations are available for 

scheduled service during the specified 

peak operating hours at LaGuardia. In 

order to move from the current level of 

scheduled service toward the reduced 

level, the FAA will accept from air 

carriers voluntary reductions in 

scheduled service at LaGuardia. We will 

retire the surrendered Operating 

Authorizations we receive until we 

attain the new average hourly rate of 

scheduled service. To preserve antitrust 

principles during the voluntary 

reduction process, a carrier’s 

identification of Operating 

Authorizations for voluntary reduction 

may not be contingent on specific flight 

reductions made by other carriers. 

As we originally proposed, if there is 

a reduction in scheduled service below 

an average of 71 hourly operations, the 

FAA may elect to reallocate Operating 

Authorizations in order to maintain an 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
2648 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 10 / Thursday, January 15, 2009 / Notices 

hourly average of 71 scheduled 

operations. In reaching and maintaining 

this level, the FAA will retire Operating 

Authorizations in the order in which the 

air carriers’ commitments to reduce 

service are received and will notify an 

air carrier if any Operating 

Authorization that it is voluntarily 

offering to relinquish could be subject to 

reallocation. The FAA also notes that 

paragraphs A.6 and A.7 of the ordering 

paragraphs related to minimum usage 

requirements and the associated 

reallocation principles continue to 

apply to all Operating Authorizations 

that are not surrendered to the FAA and 

retired. 

In order to receive credit for the 

voluntary reduction in the future, an air 

carrier must present its offer to reduce 

scheduled service at LaGuardia no later 

than February 2, 2009. If an air carrier 

wishes to offer a voluntary reduction in 

scheduled service at LaGuardia, an 

authorized representative of the carrier 

must contact the individual identified 

in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section of this document. In 

addition, air carriers must return all 

voluntarily surrendered Operating 

Authorizations to the FAA no later than 

May 31, 2009. 

Accordingly, paragraph A.1 of the 

FAA’s December 27, 2006 order limiting 

operations at LaGuardia, as previously 

amended, is amended as follows: 

1. The final Order governs scheduled 

arrivals and departures, except 

helicopters, at LaGuardia from 6 a.m. 

through 9:59 p.m., Eastern Time, 

Monday through Friday, and from 12 

noon through 9:59 p.m., Eastern Time, 

Sunday. Seventy-one (71) Operating 

Authorizations are available per hour 

and will be assigned by the FAA on a 

30-minute basis. The FAA will permit 

additional, existing operations above 

this threshold; however, the FAA will 

retire Operating Authorizations that are 

surrendered to the FAA, withdrawn for 

non-use, or unassigned during each 

affected hour until the number of 

Operating Authorizations in that hour 

reaches seventy-one (71). 

Issued in Washington, DC, on January 12, 

2009. 

Kerry B. Long, 

Chief Counsel, Federal Aviation 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–817 Filed 1–14–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

[Summary Notice No. PE–2009–05] 

Petition for Exemption; Summary of 

Petition Received 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of petition for exemption 

received. 

SUMMARY: This notice contains a 

summary of a petition seeking relief 

from specified requirements of 14 CFR. 

The purpose of this notice is to improve 

the public’s awareness of, and 

participation in, this aspect of FAA’s 

regulatory activities. Neither publication 

of this notice nor the inclusion or 

omission of information in the summary 

is intended to affect the legal status of 

the petition or its final disposition. 

DATE: Comments on this petition must 

identify the petition docket number 

involved and must be received on or 

before February 4, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments 

identified by Docket Number FAA– 

2008–1333 using any of the following 

methods: 

• Government-wide rulemaking Web 

site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov 

and follow the instructions for sending 

your comments electronically. 

• Mail: Send comments to the Docket 

Management Facility; U.S. Department 

of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., West Building Ground 

Floor, Room W12–140, Washington, DC 

20590. 

• Fax: Fax comments to the Docket 

Management Facility at 202–493–2251. 

• Hand Delivery: Bring comments to 

the Docket Management Facility in 

Room W12–140 of the West Building 

Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, between 

9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

Privacy: We will post all comments 

we receive, without change, to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information you provide. 

Using the search function of our docket 

Web site, anyone can find and read the 

comments received into any of our 

dockets, including the name of the 

individual sending the comment (or 

signing the comment for an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). You may 

review DOT’s complete Privacy Act 

Statement in the Federal Register 

published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 

19477–78). 

Docket: To read background 

documents or comments received, go to 

http://www.regulations.gov at any time 

or to the Docket Management Facility in 

Room W12–140 of the West Building 

Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, between 

9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ralen Gao, Office of Rulemaking, ARM– 

209, Federal Aviation Administration, 

800 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 

810, Washington, DC 20591, fax 202– 

267–5075, telephone 202–267–3168. 

This notice is published pursuant to 14 

CFR 11.85. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on December 8, 

2009. 

Pamela Hamilton-Powell, 

Director, Office of Rulemaking. 

Petition for Exemption 

Docket No.: FAA–2008–1333. 

Petitioner: Worldwide Aeros Corp. 

Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 

21.135. 

Description of Relief Sought: 

Worldwide Aeros Corp. (Aeros) seeks an 

exemption to allow Aeros to perform 

initial airship inflation and flight testing 

at an especially large hangar facility that 

is not part of the Aeros primary 

manufacturing facility. 

[FR Doc. E9–711 Filed 1–14–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Highway Administration 

[Docket No. FHWA–2009–0001] 

Emergency Temporary Closure of 

I–395 & I–66 in the Commonwealth of 

Virginia 

AGENCIES: Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA), DOT. 

ACTION: Announcement for the Virginia 

Department of Transportation to 

temporarily close I–395 & I–66 on 

January 20, 2009, for safety and security 

purposes for the Inauguration of the 

President of the United States. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 658.11 of 

title 23, Code of Federal Regulations, the 

Virginia Department of Transportation 

(VDOT) has requested approval of a 

plan to temporarily close segments of 

the Interstate to all traffic except buses 

and authorized vehicles—I–395 

(between the Capital Beltway and the 

District of Columbia (DC) line) and I–66 

(between the Capital Beltway and the 

DC line)—on January 20, 2009, 

beginning at 12 a.m., for one 

consecutive 24-hour period because of 

the Presidential Inauguration. The 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES