Government to proceed with New York airport slot auction

Government officials have decided to proceed with their experiment aimed at reducing the high rate of flight delays around the country by conducting auctions at New York City airports for take-off and landing slots, where most of the delays begin.

Secretary of Transportation, Mary Peters, has announced the rules under which the auctions at the three major New York airports will be conducted. Airports involved are JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark Liberty, where approximately two-thirds of all flight delays in the U.S. are said to be caused.

Peters has stressed that the slots auctions are necessary in order to alleviate the congestion and resulting back-ups.

She revealed that the government’s plan is to auction as many as 10 percent of all slots the currently operated by the airlines at the New York airports. The plan is opposed by many lawmakers in Congress, who insist that auctioning airport slots will lead to increased costs that will be passed on to the American traveling public, as well as reduce the number and frequency of services to smaller and mid-sized city airports.

Airlines and airports are also opposed to the government’s plan are trying to stop it by legal action.

Peters has also revealed plans to make taxiway improvements at JFK, at a price tag of $89 million, and to decrease the number of take-offs per hour at LaGuardia from 75 to 71. She commented that reducing the take-off rate at LaGuardia should reduce delays by 40 percent.

Federal officials cite the practice of airlines trying to pack too many planes – many of them being smaller ones – onto the runways of New York City-area airports.

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