ATA Sues FAA To Stop Newark Slot Auction Plan

The Air Transport Association today filed a lawsuit against the Federal Aviation Administration for the government's plan to auction slots at Newark Liberty International Airport.

ATA filed suit today in the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia, seeking to preclude FAA from carrying out the auction plan, which it claims is illegal since the "slots are not FAA property and cannot be auctioned by FAA," court documents said.

FAA last week released the auction notice to carriers, requesting them to submit bids for the slots by Sept. 3. The U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees FAA, said the daily arrival and daily departure slot initially was allocated for Eos Airlines. The airline folded this year, "leaving FAA with control of the slots."

However, the move last week drew criticism from the airlines, the New York-area airport authority and ATA. "FAA's plan is not only unlawful, it is both surprising and perplexing," ATA president and CEO James May said in a statement today. "It is surprising because the end result will be more flights during the busiest times of the day at Newark, even as we suffer through yet another delay-plagued summer, and it is perplexing because the announced slot auction precedes formal rules to auction slots at Newark and other airports."

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey last week also said it planned to block any FAA efforts to auction slots.

Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters last week, in announcing the slot auction, said the plan allows FAA to initiate a market-driven approach for carriers to purchase the slot at its perceived value. DOT said it plans to use the funds generated from the auction "to reduce delays and enhance capacity at New York-area airports."