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New York Port Authority Starting Slot Auction Smackdown

"Just try it, Peters," seems to be the message from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which announced today that it would disallow departures or arrivals that are "issued by auction or similar process," saying such slot sales "would be illegal without Congressional authorization."

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is lining up behind the authority, agreeing with the position that auctions will only cause fares to go up while doing nothing to alleviate the congestion that has choked New York area airports over the past few years.

So what does he propose instead? Schumer thinks upgrading air traffic control equipment and adding staff at control towers will rid the region of delays and cancellations. Maybe he could interest you in a six-figure hiring bonus?

Related Stories:
· Port Authority Will Block US Plan to Auction Airport Slots [NYT]
· Port Authority Acts to Block Flights [Official Site]
· Secretary Mary Peters Wants to Touch That Paper [Jaunted]

[Photo: ATIS547]

Airport Hell / New York Area Airports / EWR / JFK / LGA / Mary Peters / Chuck Schumer / → All Tags

Policy Wonk Travel: Secretary Mary Peters Wants to Touch That Paper

While last year's summer of airline hell has yet to repeat itself, the US government is still working on a way to keep it from happening again. And Transportation Secretary Mary Peters thinks that slot auctions are the way to go, something she's been hyping since at least last December.

But the airlines don't want to pay more for landing rights they already have--especially when they're already bleeding cash. And while Secretary Peters makes some decent points in her latest defense of auctions, her case is more than a little thin.

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Airport Hell / New York Area Airports / EWR / JFK / LGA / Mary Peters / Bobby Sturgell / Chuck Schumer / → All Tags

Senator Sez: NYC's Airports Still a Mess

The Feds are still trying to sort out the mess plaguing New York area airports even though this summer (so far) has nothing on last year's nightmarish streak of delays and cancellations. At issue now are the slot auctions proposed by the Bush administration in May and whether they'll be able to save American aviation from itself.

Surprisingly, the airlines and New York's Port Authority--which controls the airports--are lining up behind Democrats, who say President Bush's market-based scheme won't work. Says Sen. Chuck Schumer:

Instead of focusing on real, tested solutions to solve this problem, like upgrading decades-old technology and hiring an adequate number of controllers to staff New York's towers, the [Department of Transportation] continues to miss the point.

Republicans--and the DOT--insist that auctioning off some takeoff and landing slots is the best way to spur competition while maintaining flight caps. Of course, no one's ever tried that before, so they have no idea if it's actually going to work.

By the time all the debate is over, though, the congestion problem may be a non-issue. With fuel prices going up and carriers lurching closer to bankruptcy, there may soon be plenty of room for the few airlines still in business!

Related Stories:
· Debate Over Auctioning of Airport Landing Slots [NYT]
· Airlines Moving to the Grown-up Table [Politico]
· New York Area Airports coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: triplexpresso]

Airport Hell / New York Area Airports / EWR / JFK / Mary Peters / → All Tags

Will Slot Auctions Save New York's Airports?

At the end of last week, the Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters proposed that Newark International and JFK auction off landing slots to increase competition at both airports. As long as takeoffs and landings are capped, the feds are worried that ticket prices could go up while the quality of service at New York's airports goes down.

To keep that from happening, the DOT wants to take a small portion of landing slots from all the airlines and sell 'em. The idea is that the auction will open up the market to new competitors and keep things fair--except for the whole "We took your landing slots" part of the plan, of course.

But will this slot selling--which has never been attempted at a major airport--actually spark competition? Industry watcher Brett Snyder doesn't think so:

In the end we'll probably see airlines like Continental bid high for Newark slots so they can keep the ones they have now and possibly even gain some more. The low cost carriers? Well, there's a reason they're low cost. They probably won't be able to afford the price of entry.

Related Stories:
· DOT Issues Recommendations for Reducing Delays [BNet]
· US Plans Steps to Ease Congestion at Airports [NYT]
· New York Area Airports coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: triplexpresso]

2007 Jaunted Travel Awards / Airport Hell / Airline Hell / New York Area Airports / → All Tags

2007 Awards: Best Travel Media Story

Must. Not. Mention. Kyla Ebbert. Oh no!

While the Girls of Southwest debacle was fun, there was a much bigger story line this year, and the travel media did a great job covering it for the most part. Airport Congestion, particularly at New York area airports, created delays across the country, cost airlines gobs of money and infuriated passengers who sometimes got stuck on taxiways for hours on end. It was, as it turned out, the worst year ever for delays, as problems affected everyone from soccer moms to Nick Nolte.

The story got so big that President Bush got involved, though his proposed fixes didn't do much. That left it up to the travel media, us included, to keep reminding you to avoid New York's airports whenever possible.

[Photo: Ho-Yeol Ryu, via NYM]

Airport Hell / JFK / LGA / EWR / New York Area Airports / Mary Peters / President Bush / → All Tags

DOT Will Regulate Flights at JFK

At a highly anticipated press conference today, Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced that flights in and out of JFK would be capped at 83 per hour for at least the next two years, starting in March 2008. As it stands now, about 100 flights per hour are scheduled at peak times. Currently available takeoff and landing slots will not be auctioned off to the highest bidder, as some airlines feared.

At least not yet. Secretary Peters says any new slots created through technology or airport improvements will be auctioned to the highest bidder if and when they become available. While President Bush would say that the plan allows market forces to control JFK, requiring a massive upfront investment in the form of takeoff and landing fees effectively locks out upstart innovators with limited capital.

JetBlue has already issued a statement on the caps, with CEO David Barger saying:

We applaud the DOT and FAA's actions to address congestion and enhance capacity at JFK. These capacity enhancements coupled with the regrettable, but necessary, temporary hourly caps on operations will greatly improve JetBlue's operational reliability.

Negotiations about flight caps at Newark are still underway; LaGuardia already has a limit on takeoffs and landings.

Related Stories:
· Kennedy Airport Flights Will Be Reduced [Newsday]
· Feds Close to Action on JFK Mess [Jaunted]
· Reactions: The DOT's Plan for JFK [Jaunted]
· Airport Hell coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of JFK: Carl Puentes Photography]

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US Airport Hell: Is It Really That Bad?

A two-part post about airport congestion. The UK half of the story.

So yesterday, we had a bit of a sky-is-falling attitude after reading a big story about the horrific state of New York-area airports. But as it turns out, things are actually getting better for flyers--as long as they skip LGA, JFK and EWR. According to a new USA Today report, dozens of airports outside New York have actually had fewer delays this year than last.

Hard to believe, right? Here's how it's possible:

In New York, there are too many scheduled flights and hemmed-in airports that can't expand. But at other major airports, new runways, incremental improvements in air-traffic procedures and airlines' moves to improve efficiency have begun to make a measurable difference for travelers.

For example, Atlanta's opened a new runway that's responsible for a 40% drop in delays. Boston Logan had similar success with a new landing strip. Competition has also freed up airspace: As carriers have cut flights to San Francisco, St. Louis and Washington Dulles, delays have dissipated.

This isn't to say all is well; the industry still has a lot of work to do. But as the carriers and regulators work out what's to be done for our broken system, it's important to realize that some parts don't yet need fixing.

Related Stories:
· For Many, Airport Wait Times Get Shorter [USA Today]
· New York's An Awful Place to Fly [Jaunted]
· Airport Hell coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo, ironically, of YYZ: News46]

Airport Hell / Airports / JFK / LGA / EWR / New York Area Airports / → All Tags

Airport Hell: New York's An Awful Place to Fly

New York magazine reports this week from the front lines of US airport gridlock: the Big Apple. While it may not seem that delays and schedule snafus at LGA, JFK and EWR could hobble your flight out of Phoenix, the fact that New York-area airports handle so much traffic means they can quickly turn a good day in the air bad:

Close to 3,700 flights stream through [New York's] three airports daily. And our sluggishness infects the entire grid. "If you look at the delay signature in New York and on the national level, you can see it propagating delays into the national system," says John Hansman, an MIT scientist who studies air-traffic patterns.

And while New York mentions a number solutions--capping the number of planes, expanding Stewart International, airspace redesigns--the magazine doesn't report if or when any of them are likely to happen:

It's anyone's guess as to whether caps--or any proposed solution--will be implemented now, later, or never.

Fortunately, in a massive feat of data mining, New York does offer some help in another article. The staff plugged multiple routes and options into Flightstats to find the best--and worst--options for transcon, trans-Atlantic and Eastern Seaboard flights. They advocate for shuttle flights out of LGA to Boston, Virgin America to LAX and L'Avion to Paris. These flights aren't guaranteed to arrive stress-free, but when flying from New York these days, you need all the help you can get.

Related Stories:
· Gridlock at 30,000 Feet [NYM]
· Choosing Well [NYM]
· Airport Hell coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Ho-Yeol Ryu, via NYM]