Says NYC-Area Delays Undermining Efforts Across Country

New air fare data released Wednesday by the federal government underscores the need to allow all airlines access to aviation markets, particularly where local airports have hourly caps on available flights, US Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters announced.

"Even though caps can cut delays, they also eliminate competition, and without competition, air fares rise," Secretary Peters said. "Competition is the key to lower fares, and slot auctions are the best way to get new airlines to serve New York's airports while caps are in place."

Peters noted while average domestic airfares in the second quarter of 2008 are up 8 percent nationwide, fares at capped airports increased at a faster rate. Most noticeably, the average airfare at Newark Liberty International Airport grew at double that rate, up 16 percent, after caps were put in place in May of this year.

Airfares at airports with histories of hourly flight caps, like O'Hare, JFK and LaGuardia airports, also increased faster than the national average, Secretary Peters added. Meanwhile, airfares declined by more than 25 percent in a single year when a new airline began serving Philadelphia, demonstrating that competition helps keep fares low, the Secretary said.

To address the lack of competition, the Department has issued rules to allow all carriers access to New York's three capped airports, where physical constraints make it virtually impossible to add new runways. Peters noted the hourly caps would be lifted at O'Hare by the end of October, though she added Chicago's efforts to expand capacity were being undermined by the record airline delays at New York's airports.

"No amount of new concrete will help if your planes are stuck in New York," Peters said. "Chicago shouldn't have to play second city to New York's aviation shortcomings."

As ANN has reported, those caps are vehemently opposed by major airlines, as well as transportation officials along the northeast corridor. The Government Accountability Office has ruled the agency is outside its legal rights in pushing for a slot auction plan at capped airports.

FMI: www.dot.gov, www.bts.gov/xml/atpi/src/index.xml