Originally Posted by
Often1
This is a debate about less than nothing, e.g. semantics.
Sure, there's no operational curfew, but a carrier still can't operate an aircraft which doesn't meet noise restriction standards after hours.
If you are in one of those aircraft which doesn't and your flight is cancelled/delayed, whether it's a "curfew" or a "noise restriction" is a less than interesting distinction without a meaning.
So, are the mainline airline (mostly AA) flights that are scheduled to land in the middle of the night (3am) somehow meeting the noise resttrictions or is the airline just paying the penalty.
I could be mistaken, but I seem to recall UA previosuly running very early morning scheduled arrivals (IAH-DCA) during peak travel times (at the end of Thanksgiving weekend).
-FlyerBeek