Former Ally Bush Fights Airlines With New York Flight-Sale Plan

[Blue_Tires]

Source: Bloomberg

President George W. Bush, who helped U.S. airlines with cash and loans after the 2001 terrorist attacks, has turned against them with plans to auction off flight rights at New York-area airports to boost competition.

The Federal Aviation Administration may hold the first sale this month, for a round-trip flight at New Jersey's Newark airport. The agency says the auctions would let startups enter the largest U.S. air-travel market and spur carriers to fly bigger jets as part of a plan to reduce congestion.

Airlines including Continental Airlines Inc. and American Airlines are trying to stop the FAA, which plans to sell as many as 208 New York-area flights before Jan. 20. The carriers say the sales would make it impossible to recoup investments such as Continental's $2 billion at Newark in the past decade.

``They are ignoring the views of the airlines,'' said James May, chief executive officer of the Air Transport Association trade group in Washington.

The sales would add to the financial strain on an already unprofitable industry and make airport investments less attractive, Ray Neidl, an analyst with Calyon Securities in New York, said in an interview.



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a0a7Q7SBO1a8&refer=news

[AngryAmish]

1. Well lookee here, I agree with Bush

The airline industry has used these landing slots to crowd out competition for too long. They should be open for auction. It is a communal right, not private property.

[Javaman]

2. and just how will this help an industry already dying a slow death because of high fuel costs?

these "auctions" have all the smell of corporate sell offs to morons* buddies.

[AngryAmish]

3. It is not the role of government to help an "industry"

Helping an industry in this case means helping those airlines now in existence and raising the barriers to entry by new carriers.

What the airlines have now is a public resource - landing slot. They say they paid for these slots but they really did not. They have this forever and is the only reason the old carriers survive.

The current system is corporate welfare for the current airlines.

If some of the big carriers fall it is not such a big deal for customers. Running an airline is not that hard - the barriers to entry are pretty low comparatively. The problem is getting profitable routes because new start ups are locked out of ORD, LGA and other airports.

If United went belly up someone would repossess the planes, repaint them and run them as Bob's Friendly Airlines or the like.

The workers and investors of United get it in the shorts, but the traveling public get lower fairs.