Aviation Group Applauds GAO Slot Auction Decision

ALBANY, NY (10/10/2008)(readMedia)--

October 9, 2008, Albany, NY - The New York Aviation Management Association (NYAMA), the "Voice of Aviation in New York State," applauded the recent federal Government Accountability Office (GAO) finding that U.S. aviation officials have no legal authority to auction takeoff and landing slots at New York City airports. The GAO is considered the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress.

NYAMA has joined with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, airline groups and others in a legal battle with the US Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) seeking to invalidate the FAA slot auction plan. The Air Transport Association filed a law suit in federal district court and NYAMA's Board of Directors voted to join the suit if necessary at its Fall Conference recently held at LaGuardia Airport.

"The real concerns of New York area airports-congestion and delays-would not be relieved by the auctioning of slots," wrote NYAMA in a letter to Timothy Spencer, Contracting Officer for the FAA. NYAMA believes that the auctioning of slots would cause great harm to certain communities by the loss of reliable air service and the negative impact on consumers in the form of increased travel costs.

NYAMA's position is bolstered by New York Governor David A. Paterson and New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine, who lodged their opposition to the auction plan in a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters. The two Governors contend that an auction would have a detrimental effect on the economy and do nothing to address the causes of delays and congestion. The governors also called on federal officials to implement the more than 100 recommendations of the Flight Delay Task Force, convened by the Port Authority in 2007, in order to relieve congestion.

NYAMA, the New York organization that represents airport managers, other key airport employees, and their respective communities at over 120 public and private commercial service and general aviation airports throughout the state, argues that under a slot auction, small upstate communities are likely to lose air service completely or perhaps see a carrier fully withdraw from the market. A slot auction as contemplated by the FAA would have the effect of denying consumers access to New York-the most vibrant economic center in the nation, if not the world, according to NYAMA.