wintersp

Does any one know what is afoot about 'auctioning off takeoff and landing slots' for the airlines at the NYC airports by mid January????

AAFrequentFlyer

It’s illegal for the federal government to auction off landing and departure slots at New York area airports, Congress’ investigative arm said last week in striking down one element of a plan to ease air congestion and chronic flight delays in the region.
The Federal Aviation Administration also can’t collect money by holding the auctions for the slots at John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports and Newark’s Liberty International, the Government Accountability Office said in a 16-page report.
“We conclude that the FAA may not auction slots ... and thus also may not retain or use proceeds of any such auctions,” GAO wrote. “Going forward with the planned Newark auction or any other auction would be without legal basis.”

wintersp

Thanks for your reply AAFF.

So where does that leave the plans to do so?

It said, 'going ahead would be without legal basis'. Does that stop the plan or do they (and who is they?) plan to challenge the findings?

rkkwan

FAA, which is an executive branch of the US Federal Government, wants to do it. Everybody else is against it.

travelgourmet

<i>FAA, which is an executive branch of the US Federal Government, wants to do it. Everybody else is against it.</i>

Maybe everybody else in the government. Myself, I would love to see it. There is no reason that the US government shouldn't capture the full value of the public good (airspace). The best way to do that is to auction off the slots with some regularity.

Imposing flight caps based upon current capacity would be, in my opinion, the worst possible outcome as it basically gives away a valuable public asset to private industry and gives certain carriers an unfair advantage.