Government may block prime slots sale at NY airports

The plan by President Bush’s to let market forces solve gridlock at major U.S. airports has been dealt a blow by the country’s lawmakers.

A key subcommittee in the U.S. Senate acted on Thursday to attach a provision to a spending bill that would block the Department of Transportation’s plan to auction off prime landing and taking slots at the three major airports in the metropolitan New York area.

The proposal put forward by the administration would have airlines to bid for the rights to land at and take off from the area’s airports at times of peak traffic.

Officials at the U.S. Department of Transportation officials call the auction plan one of the fairest means for handling the high demand for prime time flying rights at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty airports.

In the past year, over-scheduling at New York area airports during peak times led to delays in arrivals and departures most days, and back-ups in New York then had a ripple effect across the nation.

The auction solution, however, has been attacked on numerous fronts. Large carriers oppose them, as the possibility exists for them to be bid out of routes and terminals in which they have invested millions of dollars. The regional airport operator, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, is on record as saying that the auction process would add to their operating costs and not help curb delays.

www.dot.gov