Now that I have more time, please carry the fulll context forward. My information comes from people who actually fly and maintain aircraft in the US military. Maybe not a universal truth but it appears to be. Toward the end of ther year there is always budgetary tightening. There is what is requested and what is actually funded. Most immediate disbursements are to contractors (because they now do most of the maintenance). Regardless, it takes time for every group to confirm their funding. If less, more time to adjust. This pushes into holiday periods. Most traffic is training. Also, more paperwork and maintenance creeps in, slowing traffic. The result is military traffic falls off through November and begins to upswing the first week of January. Because of vacation, it's usually not back to normal until the second week or so of January. Human factors are a big part of this. As you know, funding bullshit has taken place several times late last year. Both factors have significant impact.