## Federal Aviation Administration



# Memorandum

Date: January 28, 2015

To: Docket No. FAA

- 2014

- 1073

From: Office of Rulemaking, Federal Aviation Administration
Subject: Record of meeting

On January 28, 2015, staff from the U.S. Department of Transp o r t ation (DOT) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) met with staff from the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
, Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
, and the Un ited States House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
, Subcommittee on Aviation to provide an overview of the “ Slot Management and Transparency for LaGuardia Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, and Newark Liberty I nternational Airport” notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register January 8, 2015 (80 FR 127 3 ).

Persons in attendance are listed below:

Committee staff:

• Senate Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security

- Majority: Baile y Edwards, Suzanne Gillen, Michael Beavin

• Senate Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security

- Minority: Jenny Solomon, Tom Chapman, Doug MacIvor

• House Subcommittee on Aviation

- Majority: Naveen Rao

DOT and FAA staff:

• DOT

- Peter Irvine, Anne Bechdolt, AJ Muldoon, Steve Osit

• FAA: Jana Lozano, Rob Hawks, Bonnie Dragotto, Susan Pfingstler, Raquel Girvin
The presentation provided by DOT and FAA staff to the two Subcommittees is attached.

AttachmentPresented to: By:
Date: 

### Federal Aviation Administration 

# Slot Management and Transparency for LaGuardia Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, and Newark Liberty International Airport NPRM

Senate Commerce Committee, Aviation Subcommittee

--- Majority Staff Raquel Girvin, FAA / Peter Irvine, DOT
January 28, 2015Federal Aviation Administration 

# BACKGROUND

• The Slot Management and Transparency for LaGuardia Airport (LGA), John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR ) proposed rule would replace the temporary Orders limiting scheduled operations at these three airports.

• The temporary Orders have previously been extended until October 29, 2016. The Orders were last extended in March 2014.

2Federal Aviation Administration 

# Rationale for the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

• The combination of high demand and limited capacity at JFK, EWR, and LGA has forced the FAA to address the issue: how can the agency manage delays while providing some measure of access to carriers wishing to operate at the airport, thus encouraging competition? This proposal attempts to address this issue.

3Federal Aviation Administration 

# Rationale for the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

• The FAA will continue to monitor whether changes in airspace and airport capacity are long

- term trends that warrant adjustment of the scheduling limits at one or more airports

.

• Ongoing implementation of the New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia Metropolitan Area Airspace Redesign project and Next Generation Air Transportation System technologies will reduce congestion and delays at the New York City

- area airports over time.

4Federal Aviation Administration 

# Hourly and Daily Slot Limits

• Slot Limits: Hourly Slot Limits would remain unchanged from the existing Orders. Limits to unscheduled operations would remain the same at LaGuardia and become effective at JFK and EWR. The limits under the NPRM would be as follows:

o JFK: 81 scheduled operations per hour & 2 unscheduled operations per hour. (Daily 0600 to 2259);

o EWR: 81 scheduled operations per hour & 1 unscheduled operation per hour. (Daily 0600 to 2259);

o LGA: 71 scheduled operations per hour & 3 unscheduled operations per hour (M

- F 0600 to 2159 & Sundays 1200 to 2159).

• Daily Slot Limit: There would be a daily limit on scheduled operations at all three airports as follows:

o JFK Daily Limit: 1205 slots between the hours 0600 to 2159;

o EWR Daily Limit: 1205 slots between the hours 0600 to 2159;

o LGA Daily Limit: 1136 slots between the hours 0600 to 2159

5Federal Aviation Administration 

# Slot Limits at LGA, EWR, and JFK

Feature JFK EWR LGA Slot Base Seasonal slot holdings, as approved by the FAA. Slot Operational authority to conduct an arrival or departure operation on a particular day of the week during a specific 30

- minute period.
Slot

- controlled hours Daily: 0600 to 2259, Eastern time Daily: 0600 to 2259, Eastern time M

- F: 0600 to 2159, Eastern time Su: 1200 to 2159, Eastern time

Hourly slot limits 81 per hour or in any 60

- minute period and 44 in any 30

- minute period 81 per hour or in any 60

- minute period and 44 in any 30

- minute period 71 per hour or in any 60

- minute period and 38 in any 30

- minute period

Daily slot limits 1205 for hours 0600 to 2159 1205 for hours 0600 to 2159 1136

Hourly unscheduled operations limits 2 1 3

6Federal Aviation Administration 

# Slot Usage Requirements

• The NPRM would require use of an allocated slot 80% of the time for the same flight or series of flights throughout the scheduling season.

• This change is intended to address actions by some carriers that report a series of flights in different slots on various days during the reporting period to record usage on multiple slots with a single flight.

• Although those actions are not prohibited by the current Orders, they artificially allow carriers to meet the minimum usage rules without scheduling a flight for each slot.

• This change would promote more efficient usage of slots and is consistent with the IATA Worldwide Slot Guidelines



## .

7Federal Aviation Administration 

# Creation of a Secondary Slot Market

• The NPRM proposes to allow airlines to buy, sell, lease, or trade slots through a secondary market.

• The current Orders limit a carrier’s ability to transfer a slot (either by trade or lease) beyond the duration of the Orders. The Orders were intended as a short

- term measure to allow time for development of a long

- term, comprehensive rule that included a secondary market mechanism

.

• To achieve the goals of promoting market access and competition, the NPRM presents 5 alternatives that would permit transfer of slots between carriers in a secondary market that encourages transparency. FAA is requesting comments on these alternatives.

8Federal Aviation Administration 

# Secondary Market (cont.)

Secondary market (Alternative 1) Privately

- negotiated buy, sell, lease, and trade without prior public notice; request for FAA approval must include terms of transaction; terms of final transaction posted on the FAA website Secondary market (Alternative 2) FAA publishes a bulletin board notice of buy, sell, lease, and trade; bidding and negotiation between seller and bidders after public notice; request for FAA approval must include terms of transaction; terms of final transaction posted on the FAA website Secondary market (Alternative 3) FAA publishes a bulletin board notice of buy, sell, lease, and trade; negotiations prior to public notice permitted; bidding and negotiation between seller and bidders; request for FAA approval must include terms of transaction; terms of final transaction posted on the FAA website Secondary market (Alternative 4) FAA publishes a bulletin board notice of buy, sell, lease, and trade; bids posted on bulletin board; request for FAA approval must include terms of transaction; terms of final transaction posted on the FAA website Secondary market (Alternative 5) FAA publishes a bulletin board notice of buy, sell, and lease without identifying poster; cash

- only bids posted on bulletin board without identifying bidders; seller must accept highest bid; request for FAA approval must include terms of transaction; terms of final transaction posted on the FAA website

9Federal Aviation Administration 

# Competitive and Public Interest Review

• The proposed rule outlines procedures DOT proposes to take to review standalone slot transactions with potentially significant anti

- competitive or adverse public interest effects.

• The NPRM does not propose to review slot transactions resulting from air carrier mergers or acquisitions.

• The NPRM would provide a safe harbor for certain routine small and/or short

- term transactions.

10Federal Aviation Administration 

# Competitive and Public Interest Review (cont.)

• The FAA would forward all proposed transactions along with their final terms to the DOT for review

.

• The DOT would have 14 days to determine if the transaction can be approved or if more information is necessary

.

• If , after such review, the transaction raises concerns, the DOT would notify the parties of those concerns, propose remedies or other actions, and set an appropriate procedure and timeline for review.

11Federal Aviation Administration 

# Miscellaneous

• Costs & Benefits: The FAA estimates the present value cost of the proposed rule would be $46.3 million. The estimated present value benefits would be $65.2 million

.

• Comments will be accepted for 90

-

days after publication of the NPRM in the Federal Register.

• Issuance Date: December 19, 2014

• Publication Date: January 8, 2015

• Close of Comment Period: April 8, 2015

• The NPRM can be accessed via the Regulations.gov site: http://www.regulations.gov/#! documentDetail;D=FAA

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12Federal Aviation Administration 

# Questions?

13