Slot management dynamics at US level two airports

Level 2 airports in the U.S. rely on facilitators rather than coordinators for managing scheduling processes. This encourages collaboration among airlines to keep operations within capacity limits without mandatory slot controls. The FAA expects airlines to seek approval for new flights voluntarily to avoid transitioning to a more restrictive Level 3 status. According to the FAA, “If a carrier chooses to operate a flight without approval from the FAA and the airport subsequently transitions into Level 3 status, the carrier would not receive priority for any flights not approved by the facilitator when the Level 3 historic baseline is established."

Data from Cirium highlights that Chicago O'Hare is the busiest of these Level 2 airports with over 29,500 scheduled departures in November. United Airlines dominates here with nearly half of all scheduled flights.

At Los Angeles International Airport, Delta Air Lines leads with over 4,100 flights this month. Other major carriers include United Airlines and American Airlines alongside Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

Newark Liberty sees United commanding more than 70% of its operations due to limited competition in its vicinity compared to other New York area airports like JFK and LaGuardia.

San Francisco's market is also led by United but features more competition from Alaska Airlines which holds a significant portion of flight operations albeit much less than United's share.