The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is waiving minimum slot-use requirements at U.S. airports, giving carriers more leeway to cancel flights as demand craters amid Covid-19 fears.
The waiver allows carriers through May 31 to operate below the 80 percent use requirement for airlines to keep their slots at New York's John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports as well as Washington's Reagan National Airport. At the four other airports where the FAA has a formal review process—Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport and San Francisco International Airport—the FAA simply is giving credit to airlines for cancellations related to the virus as if the flights had remained in operation.
FAA officials said they might extend the waiver if necessary and noted that the waiver is contingent on authorities outside of the U.S. offering the same leeway. Carriers in jurisdictions where slot rules remain enforced might not get the waiver, according to the FAA.
The European Commission also is working on legislation to temporarily relax slot rules, and some regulators, including in Hong Kong and China, already have done so. The International Air Transport Association last week urged regulators around the world to suspend slot requirements to prevent airlines from having to run "ghost flights," flights with few or no passengers run only to preserve slot requirement compliance.