Airlines Fight FAA Over Proposed LGA Slot Auction

New York Times:

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Airlines at La Guardia Fight Bush Administration Proposal to Auction Off Landing Rights

By MATTHEW L. WALD
Published: February 18, 2007

WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 — The Bush administration wants to auction off all landing rights at La Guardia Airport, hoping to use the free market to improve sharing of a scarce resource. But the airlines that land there say the plan amounts to government expropriation of their property and will lead to higher ticket prices.

The debate resembles a dispute over rent control, with the airlines arguing that they should be allowed to continue to buy, sell or sub-let to each other their landing rights, known as slots. They will probably fight the plan in Congress.

But the federal government says that the slots are a public resource, and that regulations should not give too much advantage to the airlines that have had them for years. The Federal Aviation Administration asserts that auctioning the slots will ensure that they are distributed in a way that will be better for consumers.

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Doesn't this work AGAINST what the airport has done to control delays out of the airport? This sounds like a messy free-for-all similar to AIR-21 that made LGA a hellhole 7 years ago.