[Federal Register: February 15, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 30)]
[Notices]
[Page 7792-7793]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15fe05-116]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
[Docket No. FAA-2004-16944]
Operating Limitations at Chicago O'Hare International Airport
ACTION: Notice of order to show cause and request for information.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The FAA has issued an order to show cause, which solicits the
views of interested persons on the FAA's tentative determination to
extend until October 31 an August 18, 2004, order limiting the number
of scheduled aircraft arrivals at O'Hare International Airport during
peak operating hours. The order to show cause also invites written
views on whether the FAA should allocate any unused capacity while the
extended order is in effect and, if so, how the FAA should allocate any
such unused capacity. The text of the order to show cause is set forth
in this notice.
DATES: Any written information that responds to the FAA's order to show
cause must be submitted by February 24, 2005.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written information, identified by docket
number FAA-2004-16944, by any of the following methods:
Web site: http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for
submitting information on the DOT electronic docket site.
Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
Mail: Docket Management System, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401,
Washington, DC 20590-0001. If sent by mail, information is to be
submitted in two copies. Persons wishing to receive confirmation of
receipt of their written submission should include a self-addressed
stamped postcard.
Hand Delivery: Docket Management System, Room PL-401, on
the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
Instructions: You must include the agency name and docket number
FAA-2004-16944 for this notice at the beginning of the information that
you submit. Note that the information received will be posted without
change to http://dms.dot.gov, including any personal information
provided. Submissions to the docket that include trade secrets,
confidential, commercial, or financial information, or sensitive
security information will not be posted in the public docket. Such
information will be placed in a separate file to which the public does
not have access, and a note will be placed in the public docket to
state that the agency has received such materials from the submitter.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gerry Shakley, System Operations, Air
Traffic Organization: telephone (202) 267-9424; facsimile (202) 267-
7277; e-mail gerry.shakley@faa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Order To Show Cause
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has tentatively
determined that it will extend through October 31, 2005, the FAA's
August 18, 2004, order limiting scheduled operations at O'Hare
International Airport (O'Hare). This order to show cause invites air
carriers and other interested persons to submit comments in Docket No.
FAA-2004-16944 on this proposal to extend the duration of the August 18
order.
In the absence of the FAA's extension of the August 18 order, the
FAA anticipates a return of the congestion-related delays that
precipitated the voluntary schedule reductions and adjustments
reflected in the August 18 order. In a separate docket, the FAA intends
to soon solicit public comment on a proposed rule that would limit the
number of scheduled operations at O'Hare. The FAA expects that the
extension of the August 18 order would coincide with the effective date
of any final rule adopted after the FAA's consideration of the public
comments filed in that docket.
The FAA's authority to extend the August 18 order is the same as
the authority cited in that order. In part, the FAA proposes to extend
the August 18 order under the agency's broad authority in 49 U.S.C.
40103(b) to regulate the use of the navigable airspace of the United
States. This provision authorizes the FAA to
[[Page 7793]]
develop plans and policy for the use of navigable airspace and, by
order or rule, to regulate the use of the airspace as necessary to
ensure its efficient use.
Background
On August 18, 2004, the FAA issued an order limiting the number of
scheduled arrivals that air carriers conduct at O'Hare during peak
hours. The August 18 order followed a period during which O'Hare
operated without any regulatory constraint on the number of aircraft
operations, and O'Hare experienced significant congestion-related
delay. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, in
November 2003, O'Hare ranked last among the nation's thirty-one major
airports for on-time arrival performance, with on-time arrivals 57.26%
of the time. O'Hare also ranked last in on-time departures in November
2003, yielding on-time departures 66.94% of the time. The data for
December 2003 reflected a similar performance by O'Hare--ranking last
with 60.06% of arrivals on time and 67.23% of departures on time.
Despite the high proportion of delayed flights, however, when the air
carriers published their January and February 2004 schedules in the
Official Airline Guide, the schedules revealed that the air carriers
intended to add still more flight operations to O'Hare's schedule.
In January 2004, the two air carriers conducting most of the
scheduled operations at O'Hare--together accounting for about 88% of
O'Hare's scheduled flights--agreed to a temporary 5% reduction of their
proposed peak-hour schedules at the airport. When the voluntarily
reduced schedules failed to reduce sufficiently O'Hare's congestion-
related flight delays, the two air carriers agreed to a further 2.5%
reduction of their scheduled peak-hour operations at O'Hare. The FAA
captured the voluntary schedule reductions in FAA orders, and the
orders were effective through October 30, 2004.
By the summer of 2004, it was apparent that the schedule reductions
agreed to in the first half of the year, which were made by only two of
the many air carriers conducting scheduled operations at O'Hare, were
unlikely to be renewed after the orders expired on October 30. In the
absence of a voluntary constraint, the industry's proposed schedules
for November, as reported in the preliminary Official Airline Guide in
July, reflected that the number of scheduled arrivals during several
hours would approach or exceed O'Hare's highest possible arrival
capacity. During one hour, the number of scheduled arrivals would have
exceeded by 32% O'Hare's capacity under ideal conditions.
Therefore, the FAA invited all scheduled air carriers to an August
2004 scheduling reduction meeting to discuss overscheduling at O'Hare,
voluntary schedule reductions, and retiming flights to less congested
periods. The August meeting and subsequent negotiations led the FAA to
issue the August 18 order, which limited the number of scheduled
arrivals conducted by U.S. and Canadian air carriers at O'Hare during
peak operating hours. The order also defined opportunities for new
entry and for growth by limited incumbent air carriers at O'Hare. The
order took effect November 1, 2004, and in the absence of an extension,
it will expire on April 30, 2005.
The flight limits implemented by the August 18 order have been
effective. Preliminary data reflect that the voluntary schedule
reductions and adjustments that the order implements have in the first
three months yielded a 21% reduction in average arrival delay minutes
at O'Hare when compared to the published August 2004 schedules.
Comparing the operational data for O'Hare from November 2003 with that
from November 2004, the voluntary schedule adjustments over that period
have cumulatively resulted in an approximate 42% reduction in average
arrival delay minutes.
Order To Show Cause
The FAA is planning to issue soon a notice of proposed rulemaking
to address, for a specified duration, scheduled operations at O'Hare.
The notice would solicit public comment on a proposed regulation in a
separate public docket associated with that rulemaking. After
considering the comments received on the proposed rule, the FAA expects
to issue a final rule that will address congestion-related delay at
O'Hare. The rulemaking process would enable the FAA to adopt more
refined measures for managing air traffic at O'Hare, but the FAA could
not complete such a process before the August 18 order's current
expiration date.
To prevent a recurrence of overscheduling at O'Hare during the
interim between the expiration of the August 18, 2004, order on April
30 and, if adopted, the effective date of a rule, the FAA tentatively
intends to extend the August 18 order. The limits on arrivals and
allocation of arrival rights embodied in the August 18 order reflect
the FAA's agreements with U.S. and Canadian air carriers. As a result,
maintaining the order for an additional six months constitutes a
reasonable approach for preventing unacceptable congestion and delays
at O'Hare. The August 18 order, as extended, would expire on October
31, 2005.
The August 18 order does not include a mechanism to allocate any
capacity that is unused by the air carrier to which it was assigned in
the August 18 order. The FAA is specifically soliciting views on
whether the FAA should allocate unused capacity under an extended order
and, if so, how the FAA should allocate any such unused capacity.
Accordingly, the FAA directs all interested persons to show cause
why the FAA should not make final its tentative findings and tentative
decision to extend the August 18 order through October 31, 2005, by
filing their written views in Docket No. FAA-2004-16944 on or before
February 24, 2005. The FAA does not intend this request for the views
of interested persons to address the longer-term issues that will be
considered in any forthcoming proposed rulemaking. Therefore, any
submissions to the current docket should be limited to the issues
specified in this order.
Issued in Washington, DC, on February 10, 2005.
Rebecca MacPherson,
Assistant Chief Counsel for Regulation.
[FR Doc. 05-2927 Filed 2-10-05; 3:46 pm]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P