The coming dogfight over New York’s airspace
The battle over airspace and airport slots in the New York area has been escalating over the past week. The government is proposing a cap on take-offs and landings at the area’s airports, and has asserted ownership over the landing slots. It plans to auction off the slots.
The FAA’s actions have become necessary because airlines have proven themselves incapable of working within the physical limitations of the airports and the airspace, it says. This opening proposal has predictably drawn howls of protest from the entrenched airline community.
Anticipating airline reaction to the proposal, D.J. Gribbin, DOT general counsel, told Aviation Week that FAA has the legal authority to auction slots because the slots are intangible FAA property granted to airports. In other words, with the new proposal, FAA is essentially leasing the slots to carriers for 10 years.
“Carriers have no authority or legal property interest in the slots,” Gribbin said.
Naturally, the airlines protested.
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