Slots for sale: government plans to auction off landing rights in New York
As part of a larger plan to address airline congestion and delays, the Transportation Department has proposed auctioning off some takeoff and landing rights at JFK and Newark Liberty.
The region’s three airports rank consistently at the top for flight delays, partly due to airline scheduling, weather problems and congestion.
The government wants to cap the number of flights the airlines can offer during peak times. This cap is already in place at LaGuardia. However, to ensure that these limits don’t favor major carriers already established at the two airports, regulators want these airlines to auction off the slots.
“We need a way to keep aviation competition alive in the free market capital of the world,” Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said. “This new proposal will do much to make flying to New York attractive.”
The Transportation Department wants to shift ownership rights for JFK and Newark Liberty from the FAA to the airlines for 10 years. In turn, the airlines would be required to give up some slots for auction.
Depending on the give-back formula, between 91 and 179 slots of 1,245 would be sold at JFK and roughly 96 of 1,219 slots would be auctioned at Newark.
None of the airlines like the idea.
It doesn’t make any sense to me, either. Airlines will just re-bid for old slots — gaining back some, all or more — or lose them entirely.
The carriers with a majority of the landing slots are Continental (Newark), United (JFK), Delta (JFK), jetBlue (JFK), American (JFK) and US Airways (JFK). The only major airline with anything to gain by getting these slots is Northwest, but if the deal with Northwest and Delta goes through, then Northwest gaining slots is moot because it goes back to Delta.
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