FAA puts off auction of flight slot at Newark Liberty International Airport

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced that it was delaying its plan for auctioning slot at Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey, the United States, in the facce of fierce opposition from airlines as well as from airports in the New York area. The Federal Aviation Administration is the agency of the United States Department of Transportation with authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the United States.

Newark Liberty International Airport, first named Newark Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport within the city limits of both Newark and Elizabeth, New Jersey, the United States. It is located about 15 miles (24 kilometres) south-west of Midtown Manhattan (New York City).

Newark Liberty International Airport is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which also manages the two other major airports in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area – John F Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport – besides 3 smaller airports: Stewart International Airport, Teterboro Airport and the Downtown Manhattan Heliport. Newark is the 10th busiest airport in the United States and the nation’s 5th busiest international air gateway.

Five airlines – Continental Airlines, US Airways Group, UAL Corporation’s United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Northwest Airlines – and their Washington trade group, the Air Transport Association, had, on August 14, 2008, filed a protest against the auction.

Newark Liberty Airport is the second-largest hub for Continental Airlines, which is the airport’s largest tenant (operating all of Terminal C and part of Terminal A). Minly beecause of this large hub operation, Continental Airlines is by far the leading carrier in the New York market.

The 5 airlines had asked the FAA’s Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition to halt the planned auction for two slots at Newark.

The proposed auction, scheduled for September 3, 2008, would have been the first of several auctions which the FAA says are needed to reduce congestion and increase competition at the 3 airports run by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The first auction had been scheduled for September 3, 2008.

In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration said its ruling putting off the auction “does not address the merits of airline opposition to the auction, but there is no harm in waiting.”

The airlines have complained that the United States’ move to auction the right to operate a round-trip flight at Newark Liberty International Airport would be “illegal.”

“The protesters have demonstrated compelling reasons to maintain the status quo, pending a study of their objections,” the FAA’s counsel said.

According to aviation experts, the FAA’s review of the planned auction is a temporary victory for airlines and a setback for US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters’ plan to promote competition at airports in the New York area, which was the most congested in the United States in 2007.

Secretary Mary Peters had planned to follow the auction set for September 3 with sales for as many as 208 flights at all 3 major New York-area airports before US President George W Bush leaves office on January 20, 2009. She had supported the auctions to add competition and also ease delays by encouraging use of larger planes, US media reports said.

The 5 airlines, which collectively invested billions of dollars in facilities at the 3 airports in question, had termed Secretary Mary Peters’ plan a “confiscation” and had enlisted lawmakers to try to block the sales, according to reports.