Says Plan Should Be Consider "Unlawful"

This week, the Air Transport Association made good on its threat to sue the FAA over its plans to auction landing slots at three New York area airports.

As ANN reported in May, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced three measures aimed at curbing flight delays at JFK International, Newark Liberty Airport and LaGuardia. The DOT implemented a temporary cap on scheduled flights at Newark at an average of 83 per hour from June 1 until October 2009, and also opened a 60-day comment window on a plan for landing slots at JFK and Newark.

Earlier this month, Peters announced the DOT will test the program, by auctioning one slot for a daily round trip flight serving Newark in September. The agency readily admitted such "market based" measures are experiments, to see if such caps and slot auctions would be effective around New York, and elsewhere.

Joined by bombastic New York senator Chuck Schumer, ATA vehemently protested that move, calling the move an "illegal action." ATA built on that rhetoric in announcing this week's lawsuit.

The Dallas Morning News reports the ATA's suit says the auction plan "should be held unlawful and set aside because these actions are in excess of the FAA's statutory authority; constitute unauthorized regulatory action disguised as property management; are contrary to express statutory limitations imposed by Congress in the 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act; are without observance of procedure required by law; and are arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and otherwise not in accordance with law."

"FAA's claim that it can use its property management authority to auction slots is intellectually dishonest and a disturbing end run around Congress," said ATA chief James C. May on Monday. "Every transportation administration except this one has acknowledged that it does not have the authority to implement auctions and other so-called market mechanisms. Yet this administration believes it can ignore the statutory limits of its authority to remake the industry as it sees fit."

Both ATA and Schumer say congestion at the nation's busiest airports could be better handled by more air traffic controllers and upgraded equipment... not measures they say will result in increased costs, and the loss of service to small communities.

FMI: www.airlines.org