JFK New York
Airports in the US will be able to charge carriers higher landing fees at peak periods if a new national policy announced by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) goes ahead.
In what it says is a bid to combat congestion and overcrowding, the DOT wants to give airport operators the power to vary its charges based on the time of day and volume of traffic. Currently US airports base fees on the weight of aircraft.
The DOT also proposes allowing airports to include the cost of projects ”designed to expand capacity,” in landing charges before they are completed. Current regulations limit charging, subject to a project”s realisation.
”Airports will now be able to more efficiently and effectively finance the kind of projects that will give travellers more options, airlines more opportunities, and cities like New York more visitors,” said US Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters.
But the Air Transport Association of America (ATA) ” representing leading US airlines ” said the government had lost sight of the problem: ”The policy announced by the DOT is nothing more than congestion pricing disguised as an airport fee,” said ATA president and CEO, Jim May. ”Unfortunately, that does nothing to fix the primary cause of delays ” our nation”s increasingly antiquated air traffic control (ATC) system.
”Second, additional fees such as these will only increase the cost of flying for the consumer. We believe that would be most unfortunate and we will be considering our options.”
A Delta Air Lines spokeswoman told ABTN that it and other US airlines are lobbying hard against the proposal and will suggest alternative approaches to the DOT: ”There”s a consensus that to apply a financial penalty is an overly simplistic approach,” she said.
”There are congestion problems in places like New York that have to be fixed, but we”re not in favour of this proposed congestion tax.
”One of things we”re looking for is to reduce congestion in airspace itself ” we”re working with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) at overall scheduling guidelines, landing and take-off rules at JFK and the ATC system ” it hasn”t kept up with air travel itself, and that”s something we”re advocating, that it needs to be upgraded to be of an international standard that can meet demand in New York airspace. A higher tax doesn”t go to the root of the problem ” the root is the ATC system.”
IATA is furious and said the US government”s auction of landing slots could result in fewer flight choices, inefficient connections and higher prices.
”The White House and the Department of Transportation are out of step with the global aviation community,” said IATA”s director general and CEO, Giovanni Bisignani. ”A take-off slot at JFK requires terminal space, a parking stand and a landing slot somewhere else. This is a complex situation and an eBay approach - slot auctioning - will not solve the problem. We need action not auctions.
”The majority of industry groups support the use of IATA”s Worldwide Scheduling Guidelines to manage congestion at New York”s international airports. These are a ready-made solution to bring order to the chaos at New York”s airports. They are already used in more than 140 of the world”s busiest airports, including Chicago O”Hare.
”Auctioning will not achieve the desired result. And it potentially breaches international obligations and agreements.”
And just as at Heathrow, slots at the busiest airports such as JFK are at a premium. International carriers are concerned their US counterparts will have an advantage if they have more availability to juggle services. Equally, a landing fee tax to subsidise other domestic-only US airports will not go down well.
The policy is open to public comment for 45 days.