By Stephanie Beasley
09/11/2020 04:38 PM EDT
The FAA will continue to exempt airlines from minimum slot usage requirements at several major U.S. airports through next year as air travel remains slumped during the coronavirus pandemic, per a Federal Register notice slated for publication Monday.
The details: The FAA said it will extend waivers exempting airlines from rules requiring them to fly a certain number of flights in order to keep their slots at capacity-constrained U.S. airports until March 27, 2021, with additional conditions including that they give up slots that they don’t plan to use at least four weeks prior to the start of the month.
The exemptions are in effect at Chicago O’Hare International, JFK International, Los Angeles International, Newark Liberty International, New York LaGuardia International, Ronald Reagan Washington National, and San Francisco International.
Also extended through Dec. 31 of this year is an FAA coronavirus-related policy that doesn’t count canceled flights against airlines when it comes to determining if they should keep their slots at “International Air Transport Association Level 2” airports in the future. That policy applies to international hubs in Chicago, Newark, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
What’s next: FAA said in the notice that passenger demand for air travel could remain low for some time, despite “signs of limited recovery in some markets and restructuring of airline operations.” Regardless, it said that any additional relief from minimum slot usage requirements at U.S. airports should be “narrowly tailored to afford increased access to carriers that are willing and able to operate at these airports, even if on an ad hoc basis” until it’s time for FAA to reallocate the slots.
