Airport Auction Is No Solution
Editorial

Last Wednesday, the federal Department of Transportation, in conjunction with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed cutting two percent of flights at LaGuardia Airport and auctioning off a sizable portion of the daily flight "slots" airlines use at the airport. The proposal met with disfavor from nearly everyone who learned about it, from officials of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, to Governor David Paterson, Congressmember Charles Schumer and just about every airline that flies into and out of LaGuardia. Paterson and Schumer both called it "misguided" and the Port Authority pointed out that the DOT and FAA actions "ultimately would reduce choices for customers, make flying more expensive, and cut service to small cities that otherwise have no flights to New York City". The auction proposal will result only in passengers being charged more money while delays will not be reduced or congestion relieved.

Paterson pointed out that the auctions will increase the price of travel for the 26 million passengers who travel through LaGuardia each year. "The last thing the New York economy needs is a blow to its business and tourism sectors by charging passengers more money to visit and do business in New York," he said.

We find ourselves entirely in agreement with those who oppose the plan, for all the reasons stated. The FAA capped daily flights into and out of LaGuardia 40 years ago, but LaGuardia, among the busiest airports in the United States, is still beset by chronic delays, as anyone traveling through the airport known as LGA on baggage tags and tickets can attest. One of the reasons for those delays is overworked air traffic controllers guiding planes through increasingly crowded airspace on outmoded equipment. This situation is a threat to more than passengers' convenience and does more than add to the price of an airline ticket. Lives in the air and on the ground are in peril.

The Port Authority proposes that, rather than cut fights and auction off flight slots- which would force many midsize airlines to eliminate flights to upstate cities that are not major destinations for big carriers- the administration of President George W. Bush abandon the auction proposal and instead require the FAA to increase the number of air traffic controllers at LaGuardia and modernize the aging equipment those controllers use to guide flights through LaGuardia airspace. As it is, the plan to sell takeoff and landing slots to the highest bidder will not cause one plane to take off one minute sooner. New Yorkers will simply have to pay more to fly and conditions at LaGuardia Airport will become increasingly chaotic- a lose-lose situation for all concerned.

The FAA has said that a second westbound route from New York is to open shortly, a move which the agency called "akin to adding another interstate highway lane in the sky". This is helpful. However, as the governor points out, while the DOT and FAA are making progress through such recommendations, the LaGuardia auction plan remains short-sighted and does not provide a real solution to the problems faced by the exhausted traveling public. The right solutions, the Port Authority avers, are increasing capacity, rationalizing airline schedules and improving customer service, as well as adding to efficiency and increasing safety behind the scene by training more air traffic controllers and upgrading the equipment they operate.

Governor Paterson also declared that the DOT's "bumping rule", aimed at compensating passengers who are involuntarily bumped from flights and delayed, is a good step. The rule, which would compensate passengers who are involuntarily bumped from flights and delayed, is a start, but a stronger stand would be a comprehensive national Passenger Bill of Rights, Paterson noted. Such a law was proposed and passed by the New York state legislature, but in March was struck down by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that a New York law would interfere with federal law governing the price, route or service of an air carrier and that only the federal government has the authority to impose such regulations. Assemblymember Michael Gianaris, a prime sponsor of the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights, proposed in the wake of numerous incidents in which passengers were left stranded on airplanes without basic amenities, called the decision "a disappointment to anyone who has suffered at the hands of airlines that care more about profits than their customers" and the governor agrees.

"I am calling on the Bush Administration to finally take the steps necessary to reduce delays by modernizing a decades-old air traffic control system and providing strong standards for better customer service for every passenger," Paterson said in his statement deploring the airport auction proposal. There can be no argument here. Auctioning landing and takeoff slots at LaGuardia Airport will do nothing to ameliorate crowded flight conditions or ensure greater safety for airline passengers and the people who live and work in the neighborhoods surrounding the facility. The airport auction is not only the wrong solution, it is no solution at all.