November 14, 2008
The Honorable Harry Reid
Majority Leader, United States Senate
528 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Majority Leader Reid:
Thank you for your strong opposition to Bush administration efforts to confiscate and auction landing and departure slots at New York City-area airports. Unfortunately, despite the Department of Transportation's (DOT) lack of legal authority in this area and many clear communications from Congress to abandon it, the DOT has finalized its flawed scheme and has announced that it will begin auctioning carrier slots on January 12, 2009.
Clearly, delay and congestion problems in the New York City region are unacceptable and must be addressed, but confiscating and auctioning existing landing and departure slots will harm airlines, cargo shippers, airports and consumers, while doing nothing to address the underlying problem. It will increase prices for passengers and shippers, reduce or eliminate air service to many small communities by making it too costly to fly small aircraft on shorted routes into and out of New York City, and will hamper these airports' efforts to develop in a stable manner. Finally, this scheme will force airlines to perpetually reacquire these slots at considerable expense, harm the extensive domestic and international networks that U.S. carriers have developed at the three New York City airports and could cede dominance at those airports to the more than 60 foreign-flag carriers that currently operate there.
As you consider a host of year-end legislative proposals in the final days of this Congress, including critical legislation to stabilize and stimulate our nation's struggling economy, I urge you to include language in one of those bills to prevent the Bush administration from undertaking this reckless and harmful experiment as it walks out the door. In the absence of such legislation, it is clear that the administration will continue its efforts to implement this flawed proposal. Thank you for your strong leadership on this issue and your consideration of this request.