The Federal Aviation Administration has officially rescinded its controversial plan to enact mandatory slot auctions on LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark airports. See 74 Fed. Reg. 52,132 (Oct. 9, 2009) (LaGuardia) and 74 Fed. Reg. 52,134 (Oct. 9, 2009) (JFK and Newark).
Both the final rule "Congestion Management Rule for LaGuardia Airport" and "Congestion Management Rule for John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark liberty International Airport" were published in the Federal Register on October 10, 2008 (73 Fed.Reg. 60544 and 60574). These final rules established procedures to address congestion in the New York City area by assigning slots at the airports, assigning to existing operators the majority of slots at the airports, and creating a market by annually auctioning off a limited number of slots in each of the first five years of the rule.
The rules have been the subject of litigation and much controversy ever since the Bush Administration first proposed them. The D.C. Circuit ruled last year that the slot auctions could not take place pending the outcome of the litigation. They have also been the subject of two Law Review articles: Benjamin D. Williams’s Comment, Playing the Slots: The FAA Gambles with Its Controversial Congestion Management Plan for New York’s Busiest Airports, 74 J. Air L. & Com. 437 (2009), offers a detailed discussion of the law and policy implications of the FAA’s proposed slot auction rule; and Professor Michael Levine’s article Airport Congestion: When Theory Meets Reality, 26 Yale J. on Reg. 37 (2009) which presents an improved proposal for slot auctions–one which accounts for market realities and provides airlines holding slots to see the full opportunity costs of retaining (and possibly hoarding) their slots
Then the administration changed and on May 14, 2009, the FAA published a notice proposing to rescind the 2008 final rules citing the impact of the Omnibus Appropriations Act on the rules and the state of the economy in general. And for those reasons, the FAA states that it "has decided to rescind the 2008 final rule effective immediately."
Other blog posts on this topic:
FAA Issues Notice of Order to Show Cause Regarding Extension of Limitation of Arrivals at JFK and Newark Airports The FAA, on June 5, 2009, issued two Notices of Order to Show Cause requesting "the views of interested persons on the FAA’s tentative determination to extend through October 30, 2010, the January 15, 2008, order limiting the number of…
FAA Proposes Rescission of Congestion Management Rules for JFK, LaGuardia and Newark The Federal Aviation Administration today proposed to rescind the congestion management rules for JFK, LaGuardia and Newark that would have created auctions for slots at those airports. (Click here for the JFK and Newark proposal, click here for the LaGuardia…
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Legal Analysis of the FAA’s Slot Auction Rule for JFK and Newark Part 2 Analysis of Legal Issues Regarding Slot Auctions, Part Two. Having established previously that the FAA does not have specific authority to lease or otherwise dispose of slots, FAA turns to its general power to dispose of property in order to…
Legal Analysis of the FAA’s Slot Auction Rule for JFK and Newark Part 1 Pt. 1: Setting The Stage When the FAA adopted its slot auction rules for LaGuardia, JFK and Newark Airports, it did so despite the fact that the GAO had issued a legal opinion stating that it believed that the FAA…
Despite GAO Ruling FAA Issues Congestion Management Rules for JFK, Newark and LaGuardia In a gutsy move that is sure to draw the ire of Congressional leaders as well as the Air Transport Association, the FAA announced last Friday, October 10, 2008, that it had promulgated two "congestion management" rules: one for LaGuardia…
GAO Declares FAA Does Not Have Legal Authority to Auction Slots The GAO, in a legal opinion issued September 30, 2008, declared that "FAA currently lacks the authority to auction arrival and departure slots, and thus also lacks authority to retain and use auction proceeds." This legal opinion came as a…
FAA Suspends Auction of Flight Slot at Newark Airport It is being reported by several news outlets that the FAA has suspended its auction of flight slots at Newark Airport. The auction was slated for September 3, 2008. According to Bloomberg News the Order, issued by FAA Chief Counsel,…
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FAA Proposes Congestion Management Rule for JFK and Newark Liberty In the May 21, 2008, issue of the Federal Register, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed a new rule affecting two airports that are a part of the East Coast Airspace Redesign. The FAA proposes to establish procedures to address…