BEFORE THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON, D.C. ______In the matter of: ) ) COVID-19 Relief Concerning Operations ) At Chicago-O’Hare International Airport, ) John F. Kennedy International Airport, ) Los Angeles International Airport, Newark ) Liberty International Airport, New York ) Docket FAA-2020-0862 LaGuardia Airport, Ronald Reagan Washington ) National Airport, and San Francisco ) International Airport for the Northern ) Summer 2021 Scheduling Season ) ) Notice of Proposed Extension of Limited ) Waiver of Minimum Slot Usage Requirement ) ______
COMMENTS OF AIRPORTS COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL – NORTH AMERICA
Communications with respect to this document should be sent to:
Kevin M. Burke President and Chief Executive Officer
Matthew J. Cornelius Executive Vice President Airports Council International – North America 1615 L Street, NW Suite 300 Washington, D.C. 20036 201.835.3913 [email protected]
December 29, 2020 BEFORE THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON, D.C. ______In the matter of: ) ) COVID-19 Relief Concerning Operations ) At Chicago-O’Hare International Airport, ) John F. Kennedy International Airport, ) Los Angeles International Airport, Newark ) Liberty International Airport, New York ) Docket FAA-2020-0862 LaGuardia Airport, Ronald Reagan Washington ) National Airport, and San Francisco ) International Airport for the Northern ) Summer 2021 Scheduling Season ) ) Notice of Proposed Extension of Limited ) Waiver of Minimum Slot Usage Requirement ) ______
COMMENTS OF AIRPORTS COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL – NORTH AMERICA
Airports Council International – North America (“ACI-NA”) appreciates the opportunity to file comments in response to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (“FAA”) Notice of proposed extension of limited waiver of minimum slot usage requirements (“Notice”) for air carrier operations at Chicago-O’Hare International Airport, John F. Kennedy International
Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, New York LaGuardia Airport, Ronald Reagan
Washington National Airport, and San Francisco International Airport for the Northern Summer
2021 Scheduling Season (“S21”).
ACI-NA represents the interests of the local, regional and state entities that own and operate the principal airports served by scheduled air carriers throughout North America. ACI-
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NA member airports are responsible for approximately 95 percent of the domestic and virtually all of the international scheduled airline passenger and cargo traffic in the United States and
Canada. The FAA’s Notice has direct implications for the member airports identified in the
Notice and it has indirect consequences for many other airport members from facilities of all sizes.
Thank you for the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Aviation
Administration’s (FAA) consideration of our previous correspondence and comments regarding the limited waiver of the minimum slot usage requirement for the Northern Winter 2020
Scheduling Season (W20) for John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), LaGuardia Airport
(LGA), Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Chicago O’Hare International
Airport (ORD), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Newark Liberty International Airport
(EWR), and San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
While the FAA’s proposals for a limited waiver in S21 recognize the need for policy to reflect structural changes in the U.S. commercial air service network, ACI-NA believes neither continuing the current limited waiver scheme nor adopting the Worldwide Airport Slot Board
(WASB) compromise is in the public interest. ACI-NA urges the FAA not to extend waivers to standard slot usage requirements into S21 at the airports referenced. Extending the current limited waiver or granting any additional waiver of the minimum slot usage requirements will act to reduce travel options for customers, minimize competition, harm communities that rely on airports for air service and jobs, and impede our country’s economic recovery.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to present severe and deleterious impacts to U.S. airports, which are projected to lose more than the $23 billion amount estimated by ACI-NA
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earlier this year. In 2020, at least 85,000 direct airline employees have lost their jobs and countless other industry-supported jobs are also gone. ACI-NA expects many more airport operator jobs will be lost in 2021 as the CARES Act and other legislative mandates for staff retention expire, just as airline employment plummeted after similar mandates for airlines expired earlier in the year.
With FDA-approved vaccinations for the general public now being distributed, it is probable that along with improvements in testing, demand for air travel, particularly domestically, will grow beyond the modest but steady increases already seen in 2020. In fact, by the time S21 is well underway, vaccine administration is projected to be near levels that could enable significant portions of the economy to re-open, driving demand for air travel that has not been seen since the pandemic began. U.S. airport operators have strong concerns that additional waivers may unnecessarily stifle this potential demand and harm communities, the public interest, and our much-needed economic recovery.
The DOT and FAA have been very flexible and accommodating to air carriers for what will be more than a year by the end of W20. Further waivers would effectively freeze the pre-
COVID baselines for three years (S22 would be based on S19 slot permissions). As the FAA has stated in its previous Orders, “…there may come a point in time in which ongoing waivers to preserve pre-COVID slot holdings could impede the ability of airports and airlines to provide services that may benefit the economy”. ACI-NA strongly believes S21 is that point in time. The post-pandemic industry will be fundamentally changed, with many carriers and networks emerging smaller and others taking this opportunity to grow into new and/or different markets. It is time to allow market forces to begin shaping this new reality for airlines as well as consumers and the myriad other businesses that support airline and airport operations.
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The DOT and FAA’s conditional waiver granted for W20 provided a small opportunity for air carriers with the ability and willingness to serve markets on an ad hoc basis. As several of these air carriers have noted, these opportunities do not provide historical rights and essentially allow for existing slot holders to retain their priority access privileges despite squandering these scarce public resources during the pandemic. In addition, several carriers noted on the record their willingness and ability to offer air service, if only they were afforded an opportunity to do so. In contrast, news reports indicate some slot holders at Level 3 airports have been increasing their service at other hubs while keeping operations low at the constrained facilities in part due to the protection of the slot waivers. Given the documented interest in accessing constrained facilities, slot privilege holders should be incentivized to use this access to the maximum extent possible, not the reverse, as competitive access is an essential component to maximizing options and convenience for consumers.
In regards to the WASB proposal, ACI-NA staff and members are actively engaged in the efforts to reform the industry approach to scarce airport access allocation systems and we are pleased that for the first time a tripartite agreement including the interest of airport operators is encapsulated in a policy decision in this forum. However, as the FAA notes, “certain provisions and concepts of the detailed WASB proposal would not necessarily apply in the United States” and ACI-NA has particular concern that the WASB recommendation is exceedingly favorable to air carriers in the context of U.S. airports. In fact, ACI-NA believes this compromise is more favorable to air carriers than other limited waiver schemes already employed in the U.S. or other countries due to the combination of the justified non-use of slots (JNUS) provisions in addition to the reduced slot utilization thresholds of 50/50. Again, it is our preference and recommendation that the FAA end any limited waivers beginning in S21 but in the event the
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FAA decides to adopt the WASB proposal, it is the position of ACI-NA that the FAA only do so with an 80/20 slot utilization requirement for the entire season. This position is recommended when one considers the air service profiles that have historically existed at the seven congested airports in the United States, all of which have substantial amounts of domestic activity that is not as affected by government travel advisories.
We appreciate the DOT and FAA’s attempt to balance the needs of airlines, airports, and the traveling public in its initial W20 waiver notice. Ultimately, the W20 afforded slot holders extraordinary flexibility and failed to serve the needs of the public, public-use airports, and new entrant and limited incumbent carriers willing and able to adapt and serve demand. Removing the waivers beginning in S21 will begin the process of allowing supply to meet demand, thereby serving the public interest through price and service competition. Crucially, it will also remove an impediment to our economic recovery and enable airports to better fulfill their essential roles as job centers for the communities they serve.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this important proposal.
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