Airline group latest to protest slot auctions

ATA claims FAA needs Congressional authority to carry out plan

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updated 3:21 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2008

MINNEAPOLIS - An airline trade group is asking the Federal Aviation Administration to delay its planned Sept. 3 auction of slots at the Newark airport.

The auction next week would be the first of several the FAA has said it wants to conduct. It has said that selling the slots to land and take off at LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark should reduce congestion. Those three airports have been a major source of delays for the airlines that use them.

The protest filed earlier this month with the FAA's Office of Dispute Resolution Acquisition argues that FAA needs Congressional authority for the slot auctions. The ATA also argued that the FAA claimed it had no authority to conduct auctions from 1985 until 2006, but now says it was mistaken.

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The ATA has also sued in U.S. District Court in Washington over the auctions. The auctions have also been opposed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

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