The Federal Aviation Administration’s plan for auctioning takeoff slots at La Guardia Airport to reduce chronic congestion is taking fire from Senator Schumer and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who say it will cost New Yorkers.

“The FAA’s misguided plan to sell take-off and landing slots to the highest bidder won’t make your plane take off faster, it will just cost New Yorkers more to fly and throw La Guardia Airport into chaos,” Mr. Schumer said yesterday in a statement.

The FAA is proposing two plans that would allocate either 14 or about 30 runway takeoff slots a day to be auctioned off to the highest airline bidder. Neither of the plans calls for a significant reduction in the volume of flights.

Under one plan, the proceeds would be invested in new congestion reduction and capacity improvement initiatives in the New York region. Under the other, the carriers would retain the net proceeds of the auction. It is unclear which particular flights and times would be auctioned.

Mr. Schumer said the airport, one of the most congested in America, needs an overhaul of its air traffic system and greater investment in technology and controllers.

“The FAA is once again putting ideology before efficiency and the almighty dollar before New York air travelers,” he said.

The FAA said it believes the auction would provide a financial incentive for the airlines to use planes that have more seats, thus providing more competition and options for consumers, possibly pushing prices down.

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Transportation, Brian Turmail, said Mr. Schumer was mistaken.

“This plan will increase competition and give consumers more choices, and we have every reason to expect that prices will go down,” Mr. Turmail said.

About 25 million passengers traveled through La Guardia in 2007, but, given its limited size, the airport is one of the most congested airports in America. The three airports in the New York region — Kennedy, La Guardia, and Newark — were responsible for about 75% of all flight delays nationwide last year.

The Port Authority, which operates the airports, recently proposed several capacity-enhancing steps, including installing new ground surveillance technology and constructing new taxiways to better manage takeoffs and landings.

The Port Authority is siding with Mr. Schumer.

“Instead of modernizing a 1950sera air traffic control system to meet passenger demand for more flights, the DOT and FAA are choosing to charge passengers more money via an auction without reducing delays and delivering relief. The right solutions are increasing capacity, rationalizing airline schedules, and improving customer service,” a Port Authority spokesman said yesterday.

“There is tremendous irony in faulting the FAA for moving forward with a solution when Senator Schumer and Congress have failed to move forward on any legislation for a year. We believe that actions speak louder than words, and by that measure we have spoken volumes,” Mr. Turmail said.