Amid Much Opposition, Bidding To Commence Next Friday

In a three-hour meeting December 4, the Department of Transportation informed approximately 80 airline executive and lawyers of the details of the DOT's plan to auction takeoff and landing time slots at the New York area's three busiest airports. A similar gathering held Friday covered bidding procedures.

The half-hour slot purchases, good for 10 years, boast a reserve price of $10,000 for peak time slots and $100 for off peak times. Power Auctions president Lawrence M. Ausubel said he expected those prices to be "well exceeded."

DOT spokeswoman Sarah Echols said the auctions would "reduce congestion, keep air fares competitive and increase travel options in the New York aviation market." The changes are to take effect at La Guardia in March and at Kennedy and Newark in October, the New York Times reported.

A statement released by Delta Air Lines blasted the lame-duck boondoggle: "The last thing the administration should do in its final days - especially in light of the flagging economy - is inconvenience passengers who have already booked flights, raise their fares, threaten jobs, and undermine the hundreds of millions in investments airlines have made in the New York-area market."

As ANN reported, opposition to the plan has been widespread. In August, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey boldly confronted the Department of Transportation, saying the airports under its authority would refuse to accept any flights using slots acquired via such auctions.

The Government Accountability Office issued a ruling on September 30, saying the FAA does not have a legal right to impose its slot auction plan at New York-area airports.

"We conclude that FAA may not auction slots under its property disposition authority, user fee authority, or any other authority, and thus also may not retain or use proceeds of any such auctions," GAO general counsel Gary Kepplinger said in a letter to opponents of the slot auction plan.

Kepplinger also questioned the FAA's decision to claim airspace as its property... the first time the agency has taken that position in 40 years, and a view the GAO's top lawyer says is in direct contradiction to FAA bylaws.

New York Senator Chuck Schumer, one of the most bombastic and outspoken critics of the agency, said, "This once again shows that the DOT needs to put a stop to this ideological battle that would cause chaos at New York airports. The administration has tried to jam through a half-baked plan that can't even be implemented."

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.gao.gov