Slot coordination
Slot coordination process
Basic principles and stages
The basic principles this activity is based on and the main stages that it comprises are described below.
• Historic Rights (80/20 or ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ Rule)
Article 10.2 of EEC Regulation No 95/93
A series of slots that has been allocated to an air carrier for the operation of a scheduled or a programmed non-scheduled air service shall not entitle that air carrier to the same series of slots in the next equivalent scheduling period if the air carrier cannot demonstrate to the satisfaction of the coordinator that they have been operated, as cleared by the coordinator, by that air carrier for at least 80 % of the time during the scheduling period for which they have been allocated.
Approximately six months before the start of each scheduling season (Summer or Winter) the recognized and rejected historic rights of each airline are calculated, based on the slot misuse information and the slot cancellations received as from the Historic Baseline Date of the previous equivalent season. The recognized and/or rejected historic rights are notified to each airline (SHL messages), which then have a period of approximately three weeks to file their claims in relation to the aforementioned.
• Initial Submission
Following the recognition of historic rights and during a period of approximately four weeks, the airlines may submit their initial slot request for the corresponding season, which may include the confirmation of historic rights, their modification and/or the request of new flights. The initial (mailbox opening) and final (mailbox closure) dates of this period are established worldwide on an annual basis by the industry and notified by the relevant Slot Coordinator.
• Initial Coordination
Following receipt of the initial requests and in accordance with the airport capacity parameters that have been declared for the season concerned, the Slot Coordinator carries out the initial allocation of slots (Initial Coordination) applying the criteria set out in the prevailing regulations and taking into account the industry recommendations.
At the end of the Initial Coordination, the Slot Coordinator informs all airlines of the results (SAL messages). When it is not possible to satisfy a slot request, the requesting airline will be notified of the reasons, indicating the closest alternative, if there is any. This communication is distributed approximately two weeks before commencement of the IATA Slot Conference.
• IATA Slot Conference
The IATA Slot Conference (held in June for the Winter season and in November for the following Summer season) is held few days after the SAL messages have been distributed. These Slot Conferences are attended by most of the Slot Coordinators and airlines worldwide and, during the three/four days they last, the airlines' schedules are confirmed and adjusted through bilateral Slot Coordinator/Airline meetings, in which improvement options for those schedules that were allocated differently to what was requested are analyzed.
Given the fact that schedules modifications in one particular aiport affect others, the Slot Conference provides a suitable forum for all the changes to be quickly and efficiently processed at once.
• Post-Conference Slot Coordination
After the IATA Slot Conference, the Slot Coordinator continues to adapt and improve flight schedules together with the airlines, taking into account the capacity available at any time and the fact that there may have been slot cancellations and modifications. This management of available capacity is carried out through the constant revision of the Pending List, which contains all the slot requests that have not been cleared as requested.
This period includes the following reference dates.
Slot Return Deadline: the cancellation of slots that airlines do not intend to use must take place before 15 January (Summer Season) and 15 August (Winter Season).
Historics Baseline Date: slot cancellations sent after 31 January (Summer Season) and 31 August (Winter Season) count, for the application of the 80/20 Rule, as unused slots. Furthermore, returns made after this date may be subject to economic sanctions in application of Spanish Air Safety Law 21/2003.
SUMMER SEASON
WINTER SEASON
Published on 7 October 2010 at 12:14 PM