Fight rages over government plans for N.Y. airports

NEW YORK — Flight delayed? Waiting an hour on the runway? Wondering who to blame? The government's suggestion: New York.

The Big Apple's three major airports have the nation's worst delays. Since so many flights pass through that air space, the effects ripple across the country, the Transportation Department says.

To address the problems, federal officials have capped the number of New York flights and want to auction takeoff and landing slots to boost competition and efficient use of the airports.

Those plans have sparked fierce opposition from airlines, politicians and the airports: John F. Kennedy International, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International in New Jersey. The industry group for airlines is suing to stop the auctions, saying they are unlawful and will result in higher ticket prices.

The first auctions had been scheduled for two slots at Newark's airport on Wednesday, but the Federal Aviation Administration put those plans on hold last week under mounting pressure. Now the effort's future is uncertain.

"It's an embarrassing moment," said Michael Boyd, president of the Boyd Group aviation consulting firm. He called the Transportation Department's handling of the proposals "absolutely amateur" and said the auction plans fail to address real problems.

"There is no cohesive program in the works to fix the air traffic control system," Boyd said.

The five most delayed flights in July were Comair planes to or from JFK, the DOT said Wednesday. Comair, the regional subsidiary of Atlanta's Delta Air Lines, and New York-based JetBlue Airways had the worst on-time arrival rates in July.

However, over all the nation's airlines were on time more often compared to a year ago.

In December, the Bush administration announced flight caps for New York airports, saying airlines would cut the number of flights in and out during the busiest hours.

The Transportation Department later unveiled plans for slot auctions intended to prevent the caps from causing economic harm.

"We need a way to keep aviation competition alive," Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said in May. "Our plan strikes a sound balance between protecting investments by incumbent carriers, ensuring that all airlines have the opportunity to fly ... and improving service, choice and fares for travelers."

Since then, criticism of the plan has escalated.

The Air Transport Association industry group filed its lawsuit last month to stop the auctions.

"The FAA's efforts to impose a significant new aviation tax through a slot auction scheme are an outrage and are illegal," Delta spokesman KentLanders said.

JetBlue has called the plans a "direct tax on our customers" that doesn't improve the air traffic control system.

While New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has supported the auction plan, New York's senators have opposed it. Hillary Clinton wants Peters to abandon the plan, as does Charles Schumer.

"Implementing an untested scheme to impose auctions at the busiest airports in America is nothing short of insanity," Schumer said. "Auctions have never been tried and were hatched by a handful of ivory-tower types in the administration. Delaying the auctions at Newark is a good and reasonable step, but we won't stop until this proposal is off the table for good."

Last month, Govs. David Paterson of New York and Jon Corzine of New Jersey joined the fray. In a letter, they said the auctions could raise ticket prices for consumers and hurt smaller airports.

Last week, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the three major New York airports, filed a motion to join the airline industry lawsuit.

With the Newark auctions now on hold, the authority says it is winning the fight.

"We've knocked this issue down, now we need to knock it out," spokesman Pasquale DiFulco said. "The focus needs to be on reducing delays and easing congestion through capacity enhancements and on providing better customer service."

Earlier in August, the Port Authority proposed blocking flights from its airports that result from slot auctions.

The FAA fired back, saying that action might violate federal regulations and could jeopardize millions of dollars in FAA grants for the airports.

The FAA also defended the auctions, saying they "will preserve competitive airline service, help lower fares for service to and from the region, and give new carriers an opportunity to enter the market."

David Ho is a New York correspondent for Cox Newspapers.