Air Traffic Control Upgrade Could Pave Way for Auctions

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The New York Sun

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey would soften its opposition to the auctioning of airport takeoff slots if the Bush administration assured its commitment to an upgrade of the air traffic control technology for the three major airports in the New York region, a top official from the agency said.

With the Port Authority opposing both Mayor Bloomberg and the Bush administration on whether an auction of takeoff and landing slots at La Guardia Airport and John F. Kennedy and Newark international airports would alleviate congestion and increase competition, the agency and the federal Department of Transportation could be headed toward a legal showdown to determine who has ultimate jurisdiction over the airports.

The Department of Transportation says it is moving forward with the first-ever auction of daily landing and takeoff slots on September 3.

Yesterday, the chairman of the board of the Port Authority, Anthony Coscia, said the agency “respectfully disagrees” that auctions provide an effective way to deal with flight delays and that it ignores the fundamental problem of capacity.

“To the extent that the FAA and the Department of Transportation begin to turn their policy drive more toward expanding capacity and, yes, making significant investments in a next-generation air traffic control system and changes of that nature, it would show a great deal more flexibility in terms of what we think our appropriate operational measures are in the interim,” Mr. Coscia said yesterday at a board meeting.

The general counsel to the Department of Transportation, D.J. Gribbin, said the whole point of the auctions was to generate the proceeds necessary to build out an upgraded infrastructure at participating airports.

Installing the air traffic control technology, Mr. Gribbin said, is a nationwide project and could take up to a decade, but he said he was pleased by Mr. Coscia’s comments.

“It is very encouraging. We have worked closely with the Port Authority in the past, and I can’t see why we can’t agree on a common approach,” he said.

The board of the Port Authority yesterday also approved an incentive program that will waive fees and rentals that airlines normally would have to pay at Stewart International Airport for aircraft to land, park, and utilize terminal facilities for the next six months. Stewart Airport is 55 miles north of New York City.


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