(a) Slots do not represent a property right but represent an operating privilege subject to absolute FAA control. Slots may be withdrawn at any time to fulfill the Department's operational needs, such as providing slots for international or essential air service operations or eliminating slots. Before withdrawing any slots under this section to provide them for international operations, essential air services or other operational needs, those slots returned under § 93.224 of this part and those recalled by the agency under § 93.227 will be allocated.

(b) Separate slot pools shall be established for air carriers and commuter operators at each airport. The FAA shall assign, by random lottery, withdrawal priority numbers for the recall priority of slots at each airport. Each additional permanent slot, if any, will be assigned the next higher number for air carrier or commuter slots, as appropriate, at each airport. Each slot shall be assigned a designation consisting of the applicable withdrawal priority number; the airport code; a code indicating whether the slot is an air carrier or commuter operator slot; and the time period of the slot. The designation shall also indicate, as appropriate, if the slot is daily or for certain days of the week only; is limited to arrivals or departures; is allocated for international operations or for EAS purposes; and, at Kennedy International Airport, is a summer or winter slot.

(c) Whenever slots must be withdrawn, they will be withdrawn in accordance with the priority list established under paragraph (b) of this section, except:

(1) Slots obtained in a lottery held pursuant to § 93.225 of this part shall be subject to withdrawal pursuant to paragraph (i) of that section, and

(2) Slots necessary for international and essential air service operations shall be exempt from withdrawal for use for other international or essential air service operations.

(3) Except as provided in § 93.227(a), the FAA shall not withdraw slots held at an airport by an air carrier or commuter operator holding and operating 12 or fewer slots at that airport (excluding slots used for operations described in § 93.212(a)(1)), if withdrawal would reduce the number of slots held below the number of slots operated.

(4) No slot comprising the guaranteed base of slots, as defined in section 93.318(b), shall be withdrawn for use for international operations or for new entrants.

(d) The following withdrawal priority rule shall be used to permit application of the one-for-one trade provisions for international and essential air service slots and the slot withdrawal provisions where the slots are needed for other than international or essential air service operations. If an operator has more than one slot in a specific time period in which it also has a slot being used for international or essential air service operations, the international and essential air service slots will be considered to be those with the lowest withdrawal priority.

(e) The operator(s) using each slot to be withdrawn shall be notified by the FAA of the withdrawal and shall cease operations using that slot on the date indicated in the notice. Generally, the FAA will provide at least 30 days after notification for the operator to cease operations unless exigencies require a shorter time period.

(f) For 24 months following a lottery held after June 1, 1991, a slot acquired in that lottery shall be withdrawn by the FAA upon the sale, merger, or acquisition of more than 50 percent ownership or control of the carrier using that slot or one acquired by trade of that slot, if the resulting total of slots held or operated at the airport by the surviving entity would exceed 12 slots.