Because of overcrowded conditions at the nation’s airports during the late 1960s, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) promulgated a regulation to reduce takeoff and landing delays at airports by limiting the number of landing and takeoff slots at five major airports to 60 slots per hour. The airports were Kennedy, LaGuardia, O’Hare, Newark, and National. At National Airport (Washington), 40 of the 60 slots were given to commercial planes, and the commercial carriers allocated the slots among themselves until October 1980. In 1980, New York Air, a new airline, requested some of the 40 slots, but the existing airlines refused to give up any. The secretary of transportation, in response and “to avoid chaos in the skies” during the upcoming holidays, proposed a rule to allocate the slots at National. The allocation rule was proposed on October 16, 1980, and appeared in the Federal Register on October 20, 1980. The comment period was seven days starting from the October 16, 1980, proposal date. The airlines and others submitted a total of 37 comments to the secretary. However, Northwest Airlines filed suit on grounds that the APA required a minimum of 30 days for a public comment period. The secretary argued that the 30-day rule was being suspended for good cause (the holiday season). Who is correct? Should an exception be made, or should the FAA be required to follow the 30-day rule? [Northwest Airlines, Inc. v Goldschmidt, 645 F.2d 1309 (8th Cir. 1981)]