"New York-Area Airports May Get Auctions to Cut Delays"

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

New York-Area Airports May Get Auctions to Cut Delays
By John Hughes
Bloomberg


U.S. regulators may use an auction system to curb delays at New York City's
airports by giving airlines financial incentives to use fewer planes or
shift flights to off-peak hours. 

Bidding for takeoff and landing slots is one of the options being considered
at John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport in New York,
and Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, said D.J.
Gribbin, the U.S. Transportation Department's general counsel. 

The three airports are the most congested in the U.S., with fewer than 62
percent of flights arriving on time this year. Auctions involve putting some
departure and arrival times up for bid, prompting carriers to save money and
reduce congestion by combining flights or moving trips to less costly hours.


Auctions are ``definitely one of the options we're considering,'' Gribbin
said in an interview yesterday. ``We're considering pretty much everything
at this stage.'' 

Other options include capping the number of flights allowed at the airports
and congestion pricing, in which airlines pay a fee to land at busy times of
the day. Gribbin said different solutions might be implemented at the three
airports. 

The chairman of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
Chairman said regulators should find a solution that doesn't include
auctions, which would boost passengers' costs. 

Passing the Cost 

``Airlines aren't going to pay that'' auction price, Representative James
Oberstar, a Minnesota Democrat, told reporters in Washington. ``They're just
going to shovel it on to the air traveler.'' 

James May, president of the Air Transport Association, an airline trade
group based in Washington, said any congestion- cutting solutions ``cannot
disadvantage the airlines that have invested hundreds of millions of dollars
in infrastructure improvements at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark.'' 

President George W. Bush made addressing airline delays an administration
priority in September, when U.S. airspace congestion reached a record. New
York delays ripple through the U.S. air-traffic system, slowing travel
nationwide. Delays in 2007 have since improved to the second-worst. 

Pasquale DiFulco, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey, which operates the three airports, said of auctions: ``The right
solutions are expanding capacity, managing delays better and providing
better customer service, not a new federal tax that passengers ultimately
will have to pay.'' 

New Capacity 

Air Travelers Association President David Stempler, part of a task force
advising Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, said auctions ``make a lot of
sense'' for any new capacity added to New York airports. 

``Auctions are extremely unfair for existing slots at the airports, because
airlines and airports have invested billions of dollars based upon the
availability of these slots,'' said Stempler, whose group is based in
Potomac, Maryland. 

LaGuardia is the only New York airport with a cap on takeoffs and landings.
In October, the Federal Aviation Administration proposed adding limits at
Kennedy that could cut flights by as much as a third during some hours. 

Peters will recommend specific actions to Bush before the end of the month,
Gribbin said. The task force advising her will hold its final meeting
tomorrow and submit a list of positives and negatives for the various
options, he said. 

The Transportation Department wants remedies in place before the 2008 summer
travel season, Gribbin said. The season begins in late May.


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