US Department of Transportation (DOT) plans to auction take-off and landing slots at New York JFK and Newark airports to help cut delays have been slammed as ”ill conceived and unlawful” by the Air Transport Association (ATA).
DOT proposes to auction off 10% of airlines” slots at Newark above a baseline amount (20 slots a day) during the next ten years, and at JFK either 10% or 20% above the same base allowance of 20 per day. Between 91 and 179 slots would be affected at the latter depending on which route it opted for, and 96 at Newark.
DOT has capped the amount of slots at New York”s airports, and while that in itself would mean fewer delays, it said it would bring stagnant service and increased fares without a measure to stir up competition.
”Simply put, competition drives down fares,” said Transportation Secretary Mary E Peters. ”In order to ensure that airport caps do not become an economic drain on the region and the rest of the country, we need a way to keep aviation competition alive in the free market capital of the world.
Economists estimate that caps at airports without competition can increase fares for passengers between 11% to 15% above similar flights at other airports said DOT, while fares drop by more than 30% when new airlines enter a market.
”This new proposal will do much to make flying to New York attractive,” added Peters.
But ATA president and CEO James May reacted furiously: ”Our members and their passengers are frustrated by the DOT”s continued fixation on auctions, despite the overwhelming rejection by passengers, airlines and airports to such an experiment. These ill-conceived and unlawful proposals are driven by ideology and will not reduce congestion or flight delays.
”Instead of focusing on modernising and expanding the airspace infrastructure as the travelling and shipping public expects, the government seeks to curb that demand by making it more costly to fly. We must work to expand, not limit, capacity. This experiment will penalise the public.”
Individual airlines also responded swiftly ” a statement from Continental Airlines said: ”DOT proposal to auction slots at Newark is an unlawful taking of property that Continental will vigorously oppose.
”Moreover, auctioning slots will do nothing to ease congestion, but will raise the cost of air travel to consumers, result in reduced service to various communities, and act as an effective increase in taxes on an industry already known to bear an unreasonably high tax rate.”
DOT will accept comments on the new proposal for the next 60 days, which it said will be ”thoroughly reviewed and analysed” before any final rule is issued.