U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today proposed to halt plans to auction slots at John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports, reversing course from the Bush administration, which pushed for such auctions despite fierce opposition and legal challenges from airlines and airports.
"We're still serious about tackling aviation congestion in the New York region," LaHood said in prepared remarks today. "I'll be talking with airline, airport and consumer stakeholders, as well as elected officials, over the summer about the best ways to move forward."
DOT today said the final decision to halt the auction plan will come only after a 30-day comment and review period. The Air Transport Association and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey—which operates JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports—praised the decision to abandon the auction plan.
Even before today's announcement, aviation industry officials were hopeful LaHood would reverse the course set by his predecessor Mary Peters
(BTNonline, Feb. 2). DOT's original auction plan called for the eventual auction "up to 10 percent of the landing and takeoff slots these airlines currently operate free of charge today" at the three major New York City-area airports to promote competition and curb delays. The plan to auction slots initially was to go into effect in January, but an appeals court in Washington, D.C., in December ordered DOT to halt auction amid legal review
(BTNonline, Dec. 9, 2008).