Operating Limitations at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, 13668-13670 [06-2595]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
13668
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 51 / Thursday, March 16, 2006 / Notices
from 9:30 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4
p.m., Monday through Friday.
Daniel E. Brinza,
Assistant United States Trade Representative
for Monitoring and Enforcement.
[FR Doc. E6–3784 Filed 3–15–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190–W6–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
Public Notice for Waiver of
Aeronautical Land-Use Assurance;
Gary/Chicago International Airport;
Gary, IN
Federal Aviation
Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of intent of waiver with
respect to land.
wwhite on PROD1PC61 with NOTICES
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) is considering a
proposal to change a portion of the
airport from civilian aeronautical use to
military aeronautical use and to
authorize the lease of the airport
property. The area is a twenty-five acre
parcel located in the southwest
quadrant of the airport south of Runway
12/30 and west of Runway 2/20. The
land is vacant and is used as a stockpile
area for various construction materials
and was the former site of a Nike missile
silo battery. The land had been
transferred to the City of Gary in 1947
by Quitclaim Deed from the
Reconstruction Finance Corporation as
non-surplus property as defined by
section 16 of the Federal Airport Act of
1946. Public Law 102–148, dated
October 10, 1991 released the land from
the section 16 restriction requiring
Congressional action for land releases
and authorized the FAA to administer
land releases. There are no adverse
impacts to the airport by allowing the
airport to lease the property. The land
is not needed for civilian aeronautical
use and a Limited Army Aviation
Support Facility helicopter base, which
will be operated by the Indiana National
Guard, will be constructed on the
property. A Joint-Use Agreement will be
negotiated between the Indiana National
Guard and the airport that will address
all fees, charges, and assessments for
services such as snow removal, fire
fighting and fueling. Approval does not
constitute a commitment by the FAA to
financially assist in the disposal of the
subject airport property nor a
determination of eligibility for grant-inaid funding from the FAA. The
disposition of proceeds from the lease of
the airport property will be in
accordance with FAA’s Policy and
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:48 Mar 15, 2006
Jkt 208001
Procedures Concerning the Use of
Airport Revenue, published in the
Federal Register on February 16, 1999.
In accordance with section 47107(h)
of title 49, United States Code, this
notice is required to be published in the
Federal Register 30 days before
modifying the land-use assurance that
requires the property to be used for an
aeronautical purpose.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before April 17, 2006.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Gregory N. Sweeny, Airports Engineer,
Chicago Airports District Office, 2300
East Devon Avenue, Des Plaines, Illinois
60018. Telephone Number (847) 294–
7526/Fax Number (847) 294–7046.
Documents reflecting this FAA action
may be reviewed at this same location
or at Gary/Chicago International
Airport, Gary, Indiana.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Following
is a legal description of the property
located in Gary, Lake County, Indiana,
and described as follows:
A parcel of land in the east half of
section 35, Township 37 North, Range 9
West of the second principal meridian,
in the City of Gary, Lake County,
Indiana, being a part of those premises
now commonly known as the Gary/
Chicago International Airport, said
parcel being more particularly described
as follows: Commencing at a concrete
monument at the center of said Section
35, thence South 89°49′11″ East (all
bearings in this description are based on
the true bearing of North 55°49′59″ West
for the center line of Runway 12/30)
along the east and west center line of
said Section 35 a distance of 71.64 feet
to a point; thence North 00°56′07″ East
a distance of 42.41 feet to the true point
of beginning of the tract herein
described; thence continuing North
00°56′07″ East a distance of 545.92 feet
to a point; thence North 44°07′06″ East
a distance of 375.73 feet to a point in a
line which is 600.00 feet distant and
parallel with the center line of Runway
12/30 aforesaid; thence South 55°49′59″
East along said parallel line a distance
of 860.84 feet to a point; thence South
29°28′52″ East a distance of 349.36 feet
to a point which is 625.00 feet distant
and parallel with the center of Runway
2/20; thence South 21°11′05″ West along
said parallel line a distance of 754.45
feet to a point; thence North 68°45′22″
West a distance of 419.05 feet to a point;
thence South 77°38′14″ West a distance
of 134.67 feet to a point in a non-tangent
circular curve concave to the west and
having a radius of 1,061.90 feet and a
chord bearing of North 33°05′02″ West
for a distance of 659.34 feet; thence
northerly and northwesterly along said
PO 00000
Frm 00103
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
curve an arc distance of 670.41 feet to
the true point of beginning, and
containing 25.01 acres, more or less, and
subject to all easements and restrictions
of record.
Issued in Des Plaines, Illinois on February
27, 2006.
Larry H. Ladenforf,
Acting Manager, Chicago Airports District
Office, FAA, Great Lakes Region.
[FR Doc. 06–2489 Filed 3–15–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–13–M
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
[Docket No. FAA–2004–16944]
Operating Limitations at Chicago
O’Hare International Airport
Notice of order to show cause
and request for information.
ACTION:
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
through October 28, 2006, an August 18,
2004, order limiting the number of
scheduled aircraft arrivals at O’Hare
International Airport during peak
operation hours. The text of the order to
show cause is set fourth in this notice.
DATES: Any written information that
responds to the FAA’s order to show
cause must be submitted by March 22,
2006.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments
[identified by Docket Number FAA–
2004–16944] using any of the following
methods:
• DOT Docket Web site: Go to
https://dms.dot.gov and follow the
instructions for sending your comments
electronically.
• Government-wide rulemaking Web
site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov
and follow the instructions for sending
your comments electronically.
• Mail: Docket Management Facility;
U.S. Department of Transportation, 400
Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building,
Room PL–401, Washington, DC 20590–
0001.
• Fax: 1–202–493–2251.
• Hand Delivery: 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.
For more information on the
rulemaking process, see the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of
this document.
Privacy: We will post all comments
we receive, without change, to https://
E:\FR\FM\16MRN1.SGM
16MRN1
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 51 / Thursday, March 16, 2006 / Notices
wwhite on PROD1PC61 with NOTICES
dms.dot.gov, including any personal
information you provide. For more
information, see the Privacy Act
discussion in the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section of this document.
Docket: To read background
documents or comments received, go to
https://dms.dot.gov at any time or to
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Gerry Shakley, System Operations
Services, Air Traffic Organization;
Telephone: (202) 267–9424; E-mail:
gerry.shakley@faa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Order To Show Cause
The Federal Aviation
Administration’s (FAA’s) August 18,
2004, order limiting scheduled
operations at O’Hare International
Airport expires on April 1, 2006. The
FAA has tentatively determined that it
will extend the order through October
28, 2006. 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
2004 order.
If the FAA were to allow the August
2004 order to expire as presently
scheduled, the FAA anticipates a return
of the congestion-related delays that
precipitated the voluntary schedule
reductions and adjustments reflected in
the August 2004 order. The FAA has
adopted a rule limiting unscheduled
flights at O’Hare,1 but it has applied no
limits on scheduled flights at O’Hare,
other than the August 2004 order. In a
separate docket, the FAA solicited
public comment on a proposed rule that
would limit the number of scheduled
arrivals at O’Hare.2 The comment period
for the proposed rule ended on May 24,
and the FAA and the Office of the
Secretary of Transportation have
evaluated the comments filed in that
proceeding and expect to issue a final
rule shortly. It is not possible, however,
to implement a final rule in time for the
beginning of the summer scheduling
season.3 The FAA expects that the
extension of the August 2004 order will
permit the order’s expiration to coincide
with the effective date of the final rule.
The FAA’s authority to extend the
August 2004 order is the same as the
1 70
FR 39610 (July 8, 2005).
FR 15520 (Mar. 25, 2005).
3 We note that carriers customarily use 90- to 120day lead time in establishing their operating
schedules.
2 70
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:48 Mar 15, 2006
Jkt 208001
authority cited in that order. The FAA
proposes to extend the August 2004
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
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 2004 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,
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, 2004. In the absence of a
voluntary constraint, the industry’s
proposed schedules for November, as
PO 00000
Frm 00104
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
13669
reported in the preliminary Official
Airline Guide in July 2004, indicated
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 2004 meeting and subsequent
negotiations led the FAA to issue the
August 2004 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, was
previously extended on March 21 and
October 2, 2005, and in the absence of
a further extension, it will expire on
April 1, 2006.
The flight limits implemented by the
August 2004 order have been effective.
Delays have decreased, and customers
have seen improved on-time arrival
performance as a result of the depeaked
flight schedules. For the period from
November 2004 through June 2005, the
average minutes of arrival delay
decreased by approximately 27% when
compared to the same period last year.
This level of delay reduction is
somewhat better than the 20%
reduction in delays that the FAA’s
computer modeling anticipated. We
attribute this primarily to weather
conditions that were more favorable
than average and to certain peak hours
in which the arrivals actually scheduled
have been below the hourly limit
adopted in the August 2004 order.
During the first 12 months that the
order was in effect (November 2004
through October 2005), the average
minutes of arrival delay at O’Hare have
decreased by approximately 24 percent
when compared to the same 12-month
period the year before. The longer
arrival delays lasting more than one
hour have decreased by 28 percent.
Overall, the on-time arrival performance
at O’Hare has increased by almost 7
percentage points. As a result, O’Hare
performed near the average for the rest
of the National Airspace System (NAS),
which is a dramatic improvement over
the airport’s bottom-tier performance
during much of 2004. Performance since
November 2005 declined by some
measures due to the normal impact of
winter weather on O’Hare and the NAS.
E:\FR\FM\16MRN1.SGM
16MRN1
13670
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 51 / Thursday, March 16, 2006 / Notices
However, we continue to show overall
improvement compared to the same
period before the schedule adjustments.
wwhite on PROD1PC61 with NOTICES
Order To Show Cause
The FAA has issued a notice of
proposed rulemaking to address
appropriate limitations on scheduled
operations at O’Hare. The comment
period for the proposed rule closed on
May 24, and the FAA and the Office of
the Secretary of Transportation are
completing the rulemaking process.
However, the FAA cannot implement a
final rule sufficiently in advance of the
August 2004 order’s current expiration
date.
To prevent a recurrence of
overscheduling at O’Hare during the
interim between the expiration of the
August 2004 order on April 1, 2006, and
the expected effective date of the rule,
the FAA tentatively intends to extend
the August 2004 order. The limits on
arrivals and the allocation of arrival
authority embodied in the August 2004
order reflect the FAA’s agreements with
U.S. and Canadian air carriers. As a
result, maintaining the order through
the summer scheduling season
constitutes a reasonable approach to
preventing unacceptable congestion and
delays at O’Hare. In addition, we find
that it is reasonable to match this
proposed extension of the August 2004
order with the scheduling cycle for
summer 2006. The August 2004 order,
as extended, would expire on October
28, 2006.
Independence Air, which was
assigned ten arrivals in the August 2004
order, ceased all operations at O’Hare on
January 5, 2006. The August 2004 order
does not include a mechanism to
reallocate such unused capacity;
however, it does not appear that the
arrival authority assigned to
Independence Air is excess capacity.
The principal premise for the August
2004 order was the FAA’s determination
that O’Hare at present can accommodate
88 scheduled arrivals per hour in
average meteorological conditions
without triggering intolerable
congestion-related delays. In negotiating
the schedule adjustments among
individual air carriers for the August
2004 order, however, several peak
afternoon and evening hours received
scheduled arrivals that exceed the
agency’s preferred limit of 88 scheduled
arrivals per hour. Accordingly, the
unused arrival times assigned to
Independence Air under the order
would offset the hours that were
scheduled above the preferred limit, and
we tentatively conclude that it is
operationally beneficial not to reallocate
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:48 Mar 15, 2006
Jkt 208001
the arrival times formerly used by
Independence Air at this time.
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 2004 order through
October 28, 2006, by filing their written
views in Docket No. FAA–2004–16944
on or before March 22, 2006. The FAA
is not soliciting views on the issues
separately under consideration in the
proposed rulemaking. Therefore, any
submissions to the current docket
should be limited to the issue of
extending the August 2004 order.
Issued in Washington, DC, on March 13,
2006.
Rebecca Byers MacPherson,
Assistant Chief Counsel for Regulation.
[FR Doc. 06–2595 Filed 3–14–06; 11:16 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–13–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
[Docket No. PHMSA–04–18858; Notice 2]
Pipeline Safety: Grant of Waiver; Duke
Energy Gas Transmission Company
Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration
(PHMSA), Department of Transportation
(DOT).
ACTION: Notice; Grant of Waiver.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: Duke Energy Gas
Transmission Company (DEGT)
petitioned the Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration
(PHMSA) for a waiver of compliance
with 49 CFR 192.611, which requires
natural gas pipeline operators to
confirm or revise the maximum
allowable operating pressure of a
pipeline after a change in class location.
DEGT requested the waiver for certain
segments of its natural gas pipeline
located in Tennessee and Kentucky that
have changed, and for segments that
may change from Class 1 to Class 2 in
the future. Under the pipeline safety
regulations, class location indicates the
population density near a pipeline. As
the population along a pipeline
increases, the class location increases.
DEGT proposed to conduct a set of
alternative risk control activities, in lieu
of pipe replacement or pressure
reduction, on all the segments requested
in the waiver.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 60126,
PHMSA established the Risk
PO 00000
Frm 00105
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Management Demonstration Program
(RMDP) in partnership with operators of
natural gas and hazardous liquid
pipeline facilities. The RMDP
determines how risk management
principles can be used to compliment
and improve the existing Federal
pipeline safety regulatory process.
Under the RMDP, pipeline operators
proposed risk management projects to
demonstrate how a structured and
formalized risk management process
could enable a company to customize its
safety program to allocate resources for
its pipeline’s particular risks, which
would lead to an enhanced level of
safety and environmental protection.
DEGT and 11 other pipeline companies
were selected as potential candidates for
RMDP projects.1 In evaluating DEGT as
a RMDP candidate, PHMSA and DEGT
engaged in a consultation process in
which DEGT’s safety practices and
pipeline risk management program were
scrutinized. During this consultation
process, DEGT identified 21 sites where
the class location had changed from
Class 1 to Class 2 along the pipeline
route of 2 compressor station
discharges—1 located in Tennessee and
the other in Kentucky. These segments
include DEGT’s 3 parallel natural gas
pipelines, Lines 10, 15, and 25, which
are part of its Texas Eastern Pipeline
System.
While awaiting approval of its risk
demonstration project, on October 5,
2000, DEGT requested a waiver of
compliance from 49 CFR 192.611, for
the 15 pipe segments located in
Tennessee that had changed from Class
1 to Class 2. The Federal pipeline safety
regulations at § 192.609 require a gas
pipeline operator to complete a class
location change study whenever they
believe an increase in population
density may have caused a change in
class location as defined in § 192.5. If a
new class location is confirmed, the
operator is required to either reduce
pressure or replace the pipe in
compliance with § 192.611.
Section 192.5(a)(1) defines a ‘‘class
location unit’’ as an onshore area
extending 220 yards (200 meters) on
either side of the centerline of any
continuous one mile length of pipeline.
The class location for any unit is
determined according to the following
criteria in § 192.5(b):
Class 1—an offshore area or 10 or
fewer buildings intended for human
occupancy;
1 ‘‘Candidates for the Pipeline Risk Management
Demonstration Program’’ (62 FR 143; July 25, 1997);
‘‘Pipeline Safety: Remaining Candidates for the
Pipeline Risk Management Demonstration
Program’’ (62 FR 197; October 10, 1997).
E:\FR\FM\16MRN1.SGM
16MRN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 51 (Thursday, March 16, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13668-13670]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-2595]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 through October 28, 2006, an August 18, 2004, order limiting the
number of scheduled aircraft arrivals at O'Hare International Airport
during peak operation hours. The text of the order to show cause is set
fourth in this notice.
DATES: Any written information that responds to the FAA's order to show
cause must be submitted by March 22, 2006.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments [identified by Docket Number FAA-2004-
16944] using any of the following methods:
DOT Docket Web site: Go to https://dms.dot.gov and follow
the instructions for sending your comments electronically.
Government-wide rulemaking Web site: Go to https://
www.regulations.gov and follow the instructions for sending your
comments electronically.
Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401,
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
Hand Delivery: 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.
For more information on the rulemaking process, see the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
Privacy: We will post all comments we receive, without change, to
https://
[[Page 13669]]
dms.dot.gov, including any personal information you provide. For more
information, see the Privacy Act discussion in the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section of this document.
Docket: To read background documents or comments received, go to
https://dms.dot.gov at any time or to 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gerry Shakley, System Operations
Services, Air Traffic Organization; Telephone: (202) 267-9424; E-mail:
gerry.shakley@faa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Order To Show Cause
The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) August 18, 2004,
order limiting scheduled operations at O'Hare International Airport
expires on April 1, 2006. The FAA has tentatively determined that it
will extend the order through October 28, 2006. 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 2004 order.
If the FAA were to allow the August 2004 order to expire as
presently scheduled, the FAA anticipates a return of the congestion-
related delays that precipitated the voluntary schedule reductions and
adjustments reflected in the August 2004 order. The FAA has adopted a
rule limiting unscheduled flights at O'Hare,\1\ but it has applied no
limits on scheduled flights at O'Hare, other than the August 2004
order. In a separate docket, the FAA solicited public comment on a
proposed rule that would limit the number of scheduled arrivals at
O'Hare.\2\ The comment period for the proposed rule ended on May 24,
and the FAA and the Office of the Secretary of Transportation have
evaluated the comments filed in that proceeding and expect to issue a
final rule shortly. It is not possible, however, to implement a final
rule in time for the beginning of the summer scheduling season.\3\ The
FAA expects that the extension of the August 2004 order will permit the
order's expiration to coincide with the effective date of the final
rule.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 70 FR 39610 (July 8, 2005).
\2\ 70 FR 15520 (Mar. 25, 2005).
\3\ We note that carriers customarily use 90- to 120-day lead
time in establishing their operating schedules.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The FAA's authority to extend the August 2004 order is the same as
the authority cited in that order. The FAA proposes to extend the
August 2004 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 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 2004 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, 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, 2004. In
the absence of a voluntary constraint, the industry's proposed
schedules for November, as reported in the preliminary Official Airline
Guide in July 2004, indicated 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 2004 meeting and subsequent negotiations led the
FAA to issue the August 2004 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, was
previously extended on March 21 and October 2, 2005, and in the absence
of a further extension, it will expire on April 1, 2006.
The flight limits implemented by the August 2004 order have been
effective. Delays have decreased, and customers have seen improved on-
time arrival performance as a result of the depeaked flight schedules.
For the period from November 2004 through June 2005, the average
minutes of arrival delay decreased by approximately 27% when compared
to the same period last year. This level of delay reduction is somewhat
better than the 20% reduction in delays that the FAA's computer
modeling anticipated. We attribute this primarily to weather conditions
that were more favorable than average and to certain peak hours in
which the arrivals actually scheduled have been below the hourly limit
adopted in the August 2004 order.
During the first 12 months that the order was in effect (November
2004 through October 2005), the average minutes of arrival delay at
O'Hare have decreased by approximately 24 percent when compared to the
same 12-month period the year before. The longer arrival delays lasting
more than one hour have decreased by 28 percent. Overall, the on-time
arrival performance at O'Hare has increased by almost 7 percentage
points. As a result, O'Hare performed near the average for the rest of
the National Airspace System (NAS), which is a dramatic improvement
over the airport's bottom-tier performance during much of 2004.
Performance since November 2005 declined by some measures due to the
normal impact of winter weather on O'Hare and the NAS.
[[Page 13670]]
However, we continue to show overall improvement compared to the same
period before the schedule adjustments.
Order To Show Cause
The FAA has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to address
appropriate limitations on scheduled operations at O'Hare. The comment
period for the proposed rule closed on May 24, and the FAA and the
Office of the Secretary of Transportation are completing the rulemaking
process. However, the FAA cannot implement a final rule sufficiently in
advance of the August 2004 order's current expiration date.
To prevent a recurrence of overscheduling at O'Hare during the
interim between the expiration of the August 2004 order on April 1,
2006, and the expected effective date of the rule, the FAA tentatively
intends to extend the August 2004 order. The limits on arrivals and the
allocation of arrival authority embodied in the August 2004 order
reflect the FAA's agreements with U.S. and Canadian air carriers. As a
result, maintaining the order through the summer scheduling season
constitutes a reasonable approach to preventing unacceptable congestion
and delays at O'Hare. In addition, we find that it is reasonable to
match this proposed extension of the August 2004 order with the
scheduling cycle for summer 2006. The August 2004 order, as extended,
would expire on October 28, 2006.
Independence Air, which was assigned ten arrivals in the August
2004 order, ceased all operations at O'Hare on January 5, 2006. The
August 2004 order does not include a mechanism to reallocate such
unused capacity; however, it does not appear that the arrival authority
assigned to Independence Air is excess capacity. The principal premise
for the August 2004 order was the FAA's determination that O'Hare at
present can accommodate 88 scheduled arrivals per hour in average
meteorological conditions without triggering intolerable congestion-
related delays. In negotiating the schedule adjustments among
individual air carriers for the August 2004 order, however, several
peak afternoon and evening hours received scheduled arrivals that
exceed the agency's preferred limit of 88 scheduled arrivals per hour.
Accordingly, the unused arrival times assigned to Independence Air
under the order would offset the hours that were scheduled above the
preferred limit, and we tentatively conclude that it is operationally
beneficial not to reallocate the arrival times formerly used by
Independence Air at this time.
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 2004 order through October 28, 2006, by
filing their written views in Docket No. FAA-2004-16944 on or before
March 22, 2006. The FAA is not soliciting views on the issues
separately under consideration in the proposed rulemaking. Therefore,
any submissions to the current docket should be limited to the issue of
extending the August 2004 order.
Issued in Washington, DC, on March 13, 2006.
Rebecca Byers MacPherson,
Assistant Chief Counsel for Regulation.
[FR Doc. 06-2595 Filed 3-14-06; 11:16 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P
