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Agenda Item
ASR
Control 23-000565 |
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MEETING
DATE: |
08/08/23 |
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legal entity taking action: |
Board
of Supervisors |
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board of supervisors district(s): |
5 |
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SUBMITTING Agency/Department: |
John
Wayne Airport (Approved) |
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Department contact person(s): |
Charlene
V. Reynolds (949) 252-5183 |
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Eric
R. Freed (949) 252-5043 |
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Subject: John Wayne Airport Capacity
Allocations for 2024 Plan Year
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ceo CONCUR |
County Counsel Review |
Clerk of the Board |
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Concur |
No
Legal Objection |
Consent
Calendar |
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3
Votes Board Majority |
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Budgeted: N/A |
Current Year
Cost: N/A |
Annual Cost: N/A |
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Staffing Impact: |
No |
# of Positions: |
Sole Source: N/A |
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Current Fiscal Year Revenue: N/A
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Prior Board Action: 11/8/2022 #2, 11/2/2021 #4 |
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RECOMMENDED
ACTION(S):
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1. |
Authorize the Airport Director to
allocate Class A and Class E Average Daily Departures and Seat Capacity to
Qualified Commercial Passenger and Commercial Cargo Air Carriers and
Passenger Capacity to Qualified Commuter Passenger Air Carriers for the 2024
Plan Year (January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2024), as reflected on
Attachments A and B, and in a manner consistent with the terms of the Phase 2
Commercial Airline Access Plan and Regulation. |
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2. |
Authorize the Airport Director to
withdraw Seat Capacity during the 2024 Plan Year if it becomes necessary to
ensure compliance with the 11.8 million annual passenger limitation at John
Wayne Airport, consistent with the requirements set forth in Section 6 of the
Phase 2 Commercial Airline Access Plan and Regulation. |
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3. |
Authorize the Airport Director to
allocate or reallocate any additional Regular or Supplemental Average Daily
Departures and any necessary associated Seat Capacity, which may become
available during the 2024 Plan Year, in a manner consistent with the terms of
the Phase 2 Commercial Airline Access Plan and Regulation. |
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4. |
Authorize the Airport Director to
allocate additional Supplemental Seat Capacity to Qualified Commercial
Passenger Air Carriers during the 2024 Plan Year if it is determined that
such allocations can be made without jeopardy to the 11.8 million annual
passenger limitation of the Phase 2 Commercial Airline Access Plan and
Regulation. |
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5. |
Authorize the Airport Director to waive
Section 5.1.1 of the Phase 2 Commercial Airline Access Plan and Regulation
and allocate up to 30 Remain Overnight positions for Commercial Air Carrier
use during the 2024 Plan Year, pursuant to Section 5.1.1, as reflected in
Attachment A, and provide authority to withdraw the additional three Remain
Overnight positions for safety or operational purposes, as required. |
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6. |
Authorize the Airport Director to
allocate Passenger Capacity and Remain Overnight positions and authorize the
Airport Director to allocate any additional Supplemental Passenger Capacity
and Remain Overnight positions to Qualified Commuter Carriers during the 2024
Plan Year if it is determined that such allocations can be made without
jeopardy to the 11.8 million annual passenger limitation. |
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7. |
Find that the County retains and
reaffirms its sole and exclusive discretion to require mandatory withdrawals
of operational capacity in any form if the County determines such action to
be appropriate to ensure continued compliance with the 11.8 million annual
passenger limitation or for any other reason, consistent with the
requirements set forth in Section 6 of the Phase 2 Commercial Airline Access
Plan and Regulation. |
SUMMARY:
Approval of the proposed allocation
of Regulated Average Daily Departures, Seat Capacity, Remain Overnight Capacity
and Passenger Capacity to scheduled Commercial Passenger Air Carriers,
Commercial Cargo Carriers and Commuter Passenger Air Carriers will provide John
Wayne Airport with the necessary authority to ensure compliance with the
County's Phase 2 Commercial Airline Access Plan and Regulation for the 2024
Plan Year.
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION:
Community
Impact Assessment
The 2024 allocation recommendations
have been made in the context of carefully balancing the needs of the Orange
County community for adequate commercial air transportation facilities and the
desire of the local community for environmentally responsible air
transportation operations at John Wayne Airport (JWA). In addition, the
allocation recommendations further reflect the experience of the County of
Orange (County) in the management and operation of JWA and addressing the
public concerns resulting from operation of the Airport.
Regulatory
Structure
Consistent with the Settlement
Agreement, as amended, and the Phase 2 Commercial Airline Access Plan and
Regulation (Access Plan), regulation of a maximum number of Average Daily
Departures (ADD) is one of two principal restraints imposed by the County to
control aircraft noise in residential areas around JWA. Limitation on the
maximum number of ADDs has been an element of the County’s regulation of JWA
since 1972. The Board of Supervisors (Board) previously approved capacity
allocations on November 8, 2022, and November 2, 2021.
There are presently two defined
classes of ADDs, Class A and E. The class of aircraft permitted the highest
relative single event noise level is Class A. Based on the Settlement
Agreement, the County is permitted to allocate up to 95 Class A ADDs (January
1, 2021, through December 31, 2025). The quietest class of aircraft is Class E.
The County allocates up to 14 permanent Class E ADDs; however, the absolute
number of maximum Class E Authorized Departures is not directly regulated by the
County. Instead, the maximum number of Class E Authorized Departures is limited
by the current million annual passengers (MAP) limitation of 11.8 MAP, which is
the second principal restraint, under the 1985 Settlement Agreement, as
amended.
The Access Plan identifies both
Regular and Supplemental capacity allocations. The principal difference is that
Regular ADDs are allocated on a long-term basis, while Supplemental ADDs are
allocated on a short-term basis. The Regular ADDs form the foundation for commercial
operations at JWA, while the Supplemental ADDs are allocated each Plan Year to
maximize operational capacity while maintaining flexibility to ensure that the
total passenger service level remains within the MAP limitation.
Attachment A identifies the
specific ADD, Seat Capacity, and RON allocations for Qualified Air Carriers
recommended by JWA for the 2024 Plan Year. The recommended Passenger Capacity
and RON allocations to Qualified Commuter Carriers for the 2024 Plan Year are
set forth in Attachment B.
New
Entrant Allocations
While JWA is not recommending a
capacity allocation to a new entrant Commercial Air Carrier for the 2024 Plan
Year, JWA is requesting authorization to allocate 13,968 passengers to one new
entrant Commuter Carrier, Southern Airways Express, for use during the 2024
Plan Year. Southern Airways Express is the only carrier on the new entrant
Commuter Carrier waiting list and can be accommodated within the 400,000
passengers set aside for Commuter Carriers.
Associated
Operating Group Provisions
The Access Plan allows carriers to
declare annually an Associated Operating Group (AOG) for purposes of conducting
operations at JWA. AOGs are formed by carriers interested in sharing capacity
among AOG members. Alaska/Horizon and Delta/WestJet have requested to operate
as members of two separate AOGs during the 2024 Plan Year.
The historical purpose for these
provisions is to ensure against a group of Affiliated Carriers gaining an
advantage over competitors solely because of the way in which they have chosen
to organize themselves for business purposes. The recommended allocation to
Alaska/Horizon and Delta/WestJet reflects AOG provisions of the Access Plan,
and is set forth in Attachment A.
Allocation
of Permanent Class E ADDs
The Access Plan allows an
allocation of 14 permanent Class E ADDs by means of a trade-out voluntarily
undertaken by the Air Carriers. Specifically, one Class A ADD can be traded for
two new permanent Class E ADDs. Currently, only Southwest requested and
operates all 14 permanent Class E ADDs through December 31, 2025, as set forth
in Attachment A.
Allocation
of Class A ADDs Currently Under Direct County Control
The County currently has three
Class A ADDs within its control. In recent Plan Years, JWA has requested
authorization to allocate County-controlled Class A ADD capacity on a permanent
or supplemental basis. In order to maintain the MAP limitation, JWA is unable
to allocate additional County-controlled Class A ADDs to the Commercial
Passenger Air Carriers on a regular permanent or supplemental basis for use
during the 2024 Plan Year.
Allocation
of Class A Departures for Commercial Cargo Operations
The Access Plan
provides the County with the ability to allocate up to four Commercial Cargo
Class A ADDs and the discretion to allocate up to two of these four Commercial
Cargo Class A ADDs to passenger carriers when not needed for cargo operations
at JWA. This capacity, however, may only be allocated on a supplemental basis
for one Plan Year in any year where Commercial Cargo Carriers have not
requested those ADDs.
FedEx and UPS have each requested
one Cargo Class A ADD, which are being recommended for allocation to them
through December 31, 2024. In order to maintain the MAP limitation, JWA is
unable to allocate two additional Cargo Class A ADDs to the Commercial
Passenger Air Carriers.
Seat Capacity
Allocations
A total of 16,508,853 seats were
requested by the Air Carriers as part of the 2024 Plan Year allocation process.
JWA is requesting to allocate a total of 14,050,941 seats for the 2024 Plan
Year. Historically, the number of seats allocated exceeds the 11.8 MAP
limitation because Air Carrier load factors (seats filled vs. seats available)
is less than 100 percent.
A total of 12,214,180 seats are
recommended for allocation in support of Class A and permanent Class E
operations. A total of 1,836,761 seats are recommended for allocation in
support of Supplemental Class E operations, as set forth in Attachment A.
Section 6 of the Access Plan
outlines provisions which permit the County to withdraw operational capacity at
such times, on such conditions, and for such reasons as the County, in its sole
and exclusive discretion, determines are appropriate to ensure that the MAP
limitation is not exceeded during any Plan Year, or for any other reason.
Air Carrier Remain
Overnight (RON) Allocations
A total of 29 RON positions were
requested for allocation for the 2024 Plan Year. The Access Plan provides for
an allocation of 27 Air Carrier RONs. Therefore, the Airport is requesting
authority from the Board to waive the Section 5.1.1 RON limit for the 2024 Plan
Year and authorize JWA to allocate up to 30 RONs for use during the 2024 Plan
Year. The County has historically allocated and can safely accommodate up to 30
RON positions at JWA. Authorizing JWA to allocate up to 30 RONs will satisfy
the 29 RON positions requested and allow one additional RON position if
requested by an Air Carrier during the 2024 Plan Year for safe and efficient
operations, emergencies, or aircraft maintenance issues. JWA further requests
authorization to withdraw any excess RON capacity authorized by the Board, if
safety becomes an issue.
Passenger
Capacity Allocations to Commuter Carriers
Two Qualified Commuter Carriers,
SkyWest Airlines and Delux Public Charters, LLC (JSX), have requested Passenger
Capacity allocations for the 2024 Plan Year. SkyWest has requested an
allocation of 200,931 (Delta – 153,232, United – 47,699) passengers. JSX has
requested an allocation of 228,082 passengers. As discussed above, one new
entrant Commuter Carrier, Southern Airways Express, has requested an allocation
of 13,968 passengers. Section 3.5.1 of the Access Plan creates a Passenger
Capacity set aside for the allocation
of 400,000 Authorized Passengers.
JWA recommends that 13,968
passengers be allocated to Southern Airways Express, and 193,016 passengers be
allocated to SkyWest for use during the 2024 Plan Year. JWA recommends that 193,016 passengers be conditionally allocated to JSX for use
during the 2024 Plan Year and is discussed below. Therefore, JWA recommends
that 400,000 passengers (193,016 conditionally) be allocated for Commuter
Carrier use during the 2024 Plan Year, as set forth in Attachment B.
JWA
requests authority to make supplemental allocations of additional Authorized
Passengers during the 2024 Plan Year if Commuter Carrier capacity requests are
received and if actual operations during the Plan Year indicate that
supplemental capacity allocations would not jeopardize the 11.8 MAP limitation.
JSX
Allocation Conditions
JSX operates at ACI Jet’s
Fixed-Base Operator (FBO) leasehold, an operational plan that was previously
granted in lieu of operating out of the JWA Thomas F. Riley (Terminal). Pursuant
to Section 8.1.7(b) of the Access Plan, JSX was conditionally permitted to
operate at ACI Jet's FBO leasehold during the 2018 Plan Year subject to
completion of the necessary environmental review and analysis relating to
parking and traffic impacts of its operations, and implementation of any
necessary related mitigation. Under Section 8.1.7(b) of the Access Plan,
discretion is provided to the Airport Director to permit a Qualified Commuter
Air Carrier to conduct passenger operations at the location of an FBO, which is
a tenant of the County. JSX has conducted operations out of ACI Jet’s FBO
leasehold for the 2018 through 2023 Plan Years.
JSX has again requested to operate
at ACI Jet’s FBO leasehold during the 2024 Plan Year. Consistent with
operations by JSX during the past six Plan Years, JSX may operate at ACI Jet’s
FBO leasehold to the extent its operations fall within the 95,070 passenger
levels, which is the allowance provided by previous environmental review of
Commuter Carrier parking and traffic impacts at FBOs. To the extent JSX wishes
to provide operations over its current allocation of 95,070 passengers during
the 2024 Plan Year, JSX must move all operations to the Terminal. Essentially
then, JSX can either operate 95,070 passengers at ACI Jet’s FBO leasehold
during the 2024 Plan Year, subject to ACI Jet approval, or move its operations
entirely to the Terminal and provide operations for up to 193,016 passengers,
subject to full TSA screening and security requirements.
RON Allocations to
Commuter Carriers
In
addition to the 30 RON positions requested for Commercial Air Carrier use, the
Access Plan permits up to six RON positions for allocation to Commuter Air
Carriers. JSX has requested an allocation of three RON positions, along with
SkyWest (Delta) and Southern Airways Express, each requesting an allocation of
one RON position for the 2024 Plan Year. JWA requests authority to allocate RON
apron positions as follows: three positions to JSX, and one position each to
SkyWest (Delta) and Southern Airways Express for use during the 2024 Plan Year.
All five Commuter Air Carrier RON apron position allocations will be located on
the commercial ramp for use during the 2024 Plan Year.
Compliance
with CEQA: The
proposed action is a necessarily included element of the project considered in
Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) No. 617 for the JWA Settlement
Agreement Amendment Project, certified by the Board on September 30, 2014,
which adequately addressed the effects of the proposed action. No substantial
changes have been made in the project, no substantial changes have occurred in
the circumstances under which the project is being undertaken and no new
information of substantial importance to the project, which was not known, or
could not have been known, when the Final EIR No. 617 was certified, has become
known; therefore, no further environmental review is required.
FINANCIAL
IMPACT:
N/A
STAFFING
IMPACT:
N/A
ATTACHMENT(S):
Attachment
A - Plan Year 2024 Commercial Carrier and Commercial Cargo Carrier Capacity
Allocation
Attachment B - Plan Year 2024 Commuter Carrier Capacity Allocation