Discontinuation of Airport Advisory Service in the Contiguous United States, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii, 55742 [2015-21784]

Agencies

• Federal Aviation Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 180 (Thursday, September 17, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 55742]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-21784]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Chapter I

[Docket No.: FAA-2015-1006]


Discontinuation of Airport Advisory Service in the Contiguous 
United States, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of policy.

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SUMMARY: This action discontinues the availability Airport Advisory 
services within the contiguous United States, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. 
The FAA is taking this action because the frequency of Remote Airport 
Advisories service use at the 19 locations within the contiguous United 
States, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii, no longer justifies the continuation 
of the service due to the lack of productivity.

DATES: Effective date October 1, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alan Wilkes, Manager, Flight Service 
NAS Initiative Operations/Implementation, Federal Aviation 
Administration, 800 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20591; 
telephone 202-267-7771; Fax (202) 267-6310; email Alan.Wilkes@faa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

History

    On June 30, 2015, the FAA published in the Federal Register (80 FR 
37356-37358) a notice of proposed policy to inform the public regarding 
proposed revisions to the criteria set forth in FAA Order 7110.10, 
Flight Services, Chapter 4, Section 4; and FAA Order 7210.3, Facility 
Operation and Administration, paragraph 13-4-5, so that the policy 
would apply to the State of Alaska only. Interested parties were 
invited to participate in this policy change by submitting written 
comments of the proposal. No comments were received.

Background

    The criteria for providing Airport Advisory (AA) services at Flight 
Service Stations (FSS) is provided in FAA Order 7210.3, and specifies 
the criteria for providing Airport Advisory (AA) services; 
specifically, paragraph 13-4-5, addresses Local Airport Advisory (LAA), 
Remote Airport Advisory (RAA) and Remote Airport Information Service 
(RAIS). Section (b) of that paragraph requires, in part, that Flight 
Service Stations provide RAA when the employee productivity factor is 
high enough to justify the cost of providing the service.\1\
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    \1\ The facility's productivity factor is determined by dividing 
the annual RAA service count by 16,000. The productivity factor is 
compared to the number of employees used to provide the service and 
must be equal to or greater than the number of employees needed to 
provide the service. Normally about 2.5 employees are factored 
annually to provide 10 hours of service per day.
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    Currently, Lockheed Martin provides RAA services at 19 locations. 
At 18 of the 19 locations, a sample of historical data reflects that 
pilots contact the RAA service an average of less than 1 time per day. 
At Millville Municipal Airport in Millville, NJ, pilots contact the RAA 
service an average of 14 times per day.\2\ The frequency of RAA service 
use no longer justifies the continuation of the service due to the lack 
of productivity.
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    \2\ Lockheed Martin contact history daily averages, July 12-26 
and October 1-15, 2014.
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    The FAA will discontinue the requirement for FSSs to provide AA 
services in the contiguous United States, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii 
effective October 1, 2015, resulting in services no longer being 
available at the 19 locations. The AA services in the state of Alaska 
will not be affected by this change, and will remain due to the unique 
challenges presented by the remote mountainous terrain and weather 
conditions across the state.

Applicability

    The FAA will revise the criteria set forth in FAA Order 7110.10, 
Chapter 4, Section 4; and FAA Order 7210.3, paragraph 13-4-5 to only be 
applicable to the State of Alaska, and AA services will be discontinued 
at locations within the CONUS, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. Due to the 
policy change, RAA service would no longer be provided at the following 
airports:

Altoona-Blair County Airport (AOO), Altoona, Pennsylvania;
Columbia Regional Airport (COU), Columbia, Missouri;
Elkins-Randolph Airport (EKN), Elkins, West Virginia;
Huron Regional Airport (HON), Huron, South Dakota;
Jackson-McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport (MKL), Jackson, Tennessee;
Jonesboro Municipal Airport (JBR), Jonesboro, Arkansas;
Macon-Middle Georgia Regional Airport (MCN), Macon, Georgia;
Anderson Regional Airport (AND), Anderson, South Carolina;
Anniston Metropolitan Airport (ANB), Anniston, Alabama;
Casper-Natrona County International Airport (CPR), Casper, Wyoming;
Gainesville Regional Airport (GNV), Gainesville, Florida;
Grand Forks International Airport (GFK), Grand Forks, North Dakota;
Greenwood-Leflore Airport (GWO), Greenwood, Mississippi;
Louisville-Bowman Field Airport (LOU), Louisville, Kentucky;
Millville Municipal Airport (MIV), Millville, New Jersey;
Prescott-Ernest A. Love Field Airport (PRC), Prescott, Arizona;
St. Louis-Spirit of St. Louis Airport (SUS), St. Louis, Missouri;
St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport (PIE), St. 
Petersburg, Florida; and
Miami-Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport (TMB), Miami, Florida.

II. Additional Information

A. Availability of Documents

    An electronic copy of rulemaking documents may be obtained from the 
Internet by--
    1. Searching the Federal eRulemaking Portal (https://www.regulations.gov);
    2. Visiting the FAA's Regulations and Policies Web page at https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies or
    3. Accessing the Government Printing Office's Web page at https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/.
    Copies may also be obtained by sending a request to the Federal 
Aviation Administration, Office of Rulemaking, ARM-1, 800 Independence 
Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20591, or by calling (202) 267-9680. 
Commenters must identify the docket or amendment number of this notice.
    All documents the FAA considered in developing this notice, 
including economic analyses and technical reports, may be accessed from 
the Internet through the Federal eRulemaking Portal referenced in item 
(1) above.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on August 25, 2015.
Jeanne Giering,
Director of Flight Services.
[FR Doc. 2015-21784 Filed 9-16-15; 8:45 am]
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