Federal Plan To Auction Area Air Space Faces Fight
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are fighting the Bush administration’s plan to combat flight delays by experimenting with New York City airspace.
The Federal Aviation Administration came under withering criticism this morning at a hearing about the agency’s plan to auction off some flight slots at New York’s three major airports.
Last year, American airports saw near-record flight delays, and experts say backups at New York’s airports are responsible for between half and three-quarters of the entire nation’s delays.
Representatives for the airline industry said the auction plan — which has not been tried before at American airports — will not work and will instead impose major new costs on them at a time their businesses are already struggling to cope with rising fuel prices.
