Routes and Airports Channel

Slot auctions a no go for NY airports

ATW's Airports Today, June, 2009, p.5

The US Dept. of Transportation cancelled proposed slot auctions at New York's three main area airports, reversing a controversial rule put in place by DOT in the waning days of the Bush administration.

The plan to requisition slots from airlines at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark and auction them to reduce delays had been tied up in court since it was proposed last fall following legal challenges by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airports, as well as the Air Transport Assn. and IATA.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said that while DOT is proposing to withdraw the auction rule, it is "still serious about tackling aviation congestion in the New York region." He will "be talking with airline, airport and consumer stakeholders, as well as elected officials, over the summer about the best ways to move forward."

Industry groups welcomed the decision. Airports Council International-North America President Greg Principato stated, "Federally mandated slot auctions were a misguided attempt to substitute economic theory for airport proprietors' judgment."

IATA also expressed satisfaction "that Secretary LaHood has decided to abandon the Bush administration's misguided proposal to reduce congestion by substantially increasing the airlines' costs during an economic crisis," said spokesperson Steve Lott. "ATA applauds the Obama administration and Secretary LaHood for moving to cancel the ill-conceived New York-area airport slot auctions," President and CEO James May said in a statement.

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