A change to longstanding Federal Aviation Administration policy could help clear congestion in New York City skies this summer. It will minimize delays and help airlines better handle thunderstorms and machinery problems. However, that could come at the expense of a larger flight choice.
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The FAA said this week that it will allow airlines to reduce the number of flights they operate from certain flights. airport “slot control” throughout the summer without permanently giving up valuable take-off and landing positions. The agency cited an ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers. contributed to delays throughout last summer.
How do airport ‘slots’ work?
A “slot” is essentially the “right” for an airline to operate at certain high-traffic airports. Each location owned by an airline allows the airline to perform one take-off or landing. “Location pair” refers to one arrival location and one departure location. The slot system regulates the flow of air traffic and prevents dangerous overcrowding at airports. It also prevents entrenched anticompetitive behavior by carriers.
In the United States, there are three seat-controlled airports: John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), LaGuardia Airport (LGA), and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).
The fourth airport — Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) — is instead considered “scheduled controlled”. This is a similar system with some minor differences. Unless an airport builds a new runway or seeks to increase capacity — such as further optimizing air traffic control patterns — the number of positions is finite and all positions are administered by the FAA. physical.
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To prevent airlines from hoarding slots they don’t actually intend to use to compete, the FAA enforces a “use it or lose it” rule. Airlines must use each seat at least 80% of the time. Otherwise, the FAA can revoke the position and hand it over to another airline.
Voluntary return position to combat air traffic controller shortages
Because of the 80% rule, airlines often make the most of their slots, sometimes leasing them to other airlines if they don’t find a valuable use for them. During times of slowness or market change, airlines are known to operate unprofitable or unnecessary flights just to avoid losing positions they are expected to need at a later point. This practice is sometimes referred to as “squatting” on slot machines.
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For example, an airline might run 16 flights daily between two cities like New York and Washington, even though there may only be enough demand to fill 10 flights a day.
The FAA says it expects airlines to operate about 7% more flights to and from New York this summer. compared to last year.
In comparison, the New York-area air traffic control facility has only 54% of the ideal staff. (The agency says that nationally, federal air traffic control centers average about 81% of optimal staffing levels.) The agency plans to reassign control. Busy airspace around Newark to a controlled facility in Philadelphia to reduce the workload for the overtaxed New York facility. However, that change won’t be complete until after the summer.
Combination of more flights and one The air traffic control center is overloaded expected to increase the delay to 45%. This would have ripple effects cascading across the entire country’s airspace.
Related: American Airlines forgot it had a landing spot at JFK. Then it lost some of them
To avoid that, the agency said it would give airlines flexibility in consolidating flight frequencies – which could involve using larger planes for some flights – without worrying about losing your place.
Under the plan, airlines could voluntarily give up up to 10% of their seats between May 15 and September 15, the FAA said. The agency set an April 30 deadline for airlines to choose whether to take advantage of the program.
The FAA said DCA is included in the program because airlines will likely choose to merge flights between airports in the New York and Washington area.
How will giving up a position affect summer travel?
Ideally, if major airlines could consolidate enough flights and frequencies to maximize FAA waivers, the airspace over New York would be less congested this summer. It will be easy for both airlines and air traffic controllers to get things back on track after inevitable disruptions like thunderstorms.
However, that could mean airlines cutting back on the frequency or entire routes that travelers already rely on.
Both Delta Air Lines and United Airlines have said they will try to return 10% of their seats for the summer while consolidating operations. The airlines said they will upgrade flights to as many larger aircraft as possible and are proactively working to accommodate any customers affected by the changes. They also said that, in any capacity possible, they would use their vacant DCA slots to fly to destinations other than New York during the summer.
“We stand ready to do our part,” Delta chief executive John Laughter wrote to the FAA in a March 21 letter.
In a letter dated March 22, American Airlines wrote that it was still evaluating whether to apply for an exemption. The letter said the carrier realized that scaling back its New York operations would “improve airspace conditions and the customer experience in the broader New York area, where there are benefits across the country.”
According to Henry Harteveldt, travel and aviation industry analyst and founder of Atmosphere Research, it’s hard to predict which specific scheduled flights will be affected.
“I think airlines will find a way to cut flights to a reasonable frequency and perhaps cutting one or two flights will not affect their competitiveness nor inconvenience them.” Too many passengers,” Harteveldt said.
In addition, Harteveldt said that airlines will likely cut routes that are often underperforming.
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“Airlines have shown that they are willing to give up certain markets because of high operating costs,” he said. “But these are flights to destinations where profitability performance or contribution to the airlines’ overall traffic and system revenue is negligible.”
The potential good news for travelers living or flying to smaller markets in the US, says Harteveldt, is that carriers won’t want to remove service as part of the waivers, at least to the extent possible. body.
“I think the airlines will try to find the right balance here,” he said. “And if you’re running seven or eight or more flights a day from one of these airports to another, it might be better to skip some of those flights than to skip a flight to one destination in the future. areas where you may be their only airline service or where there may be other factors to consider.”
With airlines’ proposals coming to the FAA on April 30, it will likely be at least a few weeks before the changes are reflected in the airlines’ published schedules. TPG regularly reports on airline schedule changes, so check back in the coming weeks as the placement waivers are finalized.
