FAA History Lesson -- November 3

From the FAA Historical Chronology, 1926-1996...

”Nov 3, 1980: FAA published a special rule allocating reservations, or "slots," for takeoffs and landings under instrument flight rules at Washington National Airport. The rule applied to air carriers, except air taxis, and was effective Dec 1, 1980, to Apr 26, 1981. The slots had previously been assigned by an air carrier scheduling committee, the system used at the other high density airports subject to flight restrictions in force since Jun 1, 1969 (see that date). Since the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, however, the number of carriers seeking slots at National had increased and the committee found it more difficult to reach agreement. On Oct 14, 1980, the body advised FAA it was deadlocked, necessitating government intervention. (See Mar 23, 1978, and Dec 6, 1981.)“

You are paying attention here aren’t you ? “...the system used at the other high density airports...” The airlines can debate and fight about slots at JFK, LGA, EWR and ORD all they want...but we all know who will be the final authority at Washington National don’t we ?

Don Brown
November 3, 2007