Slot Credit Substitution

Managing capacity through open collaboration and airline-to-airline slot exchange

The Slot Credit Substitution (SCS) capability greatly increases the flexibility flight operators have to manage their schedules to meet business objectives during Ground Delay Programs (GDP) and Airspace Flow Programs (AFP). Prior to the introduction of SCS, airlines could only use the arrival slots allocated to them by the FAA to rearrange flights into a controlled resource. This often led to inefficiencies in the airlines’ schedule.

SCS opens a new dimension for operators allowing the open exchange of arrival slots with other operators in situations where all participating airlines benefit. SCS exchanges can be initiated directly by one carrier and accommodated automatically by other carriers, without explicit action on their parts. SCS is the first inter-player resource exchange in the National Airspace System (NAS), and is the first step to a more efficient market-based system of resource management.