During the past two years, an airline drama has been playing out in Washington, DC, between Delta Air Lines, US Airways and the Department of Transportation regarding a proposed swapping of slots between the two airlines that would give Delta virtual control of LaGuardia in New York and US Airways more than 50 percent of the slots at Washington Reagan Airport.
I weighed in last year
CTA proposes that the entire question of swapping or selling slots should be reexamined by the DOT in terms of the taxpayer good. Airline airport slots were once provided by the DOT at no cost to airlines as needed. These slots are the property of the American public and have been controlled by the DOT as a public asset for the public good.
Over the years based on bureaucratic precedent, the airlines have assumed the position that these slots are airline property and now place a monetary value on them, sell them and lease them just as they might any other assets. Under normal circumstances, the assignment of airline slots is non-controversial since there is no shortage of slots at the majority of airports, but where circumstances have limited airport slots, they should be allocated in the public interest to maximize the public good.
This request for permission to swap slots provides DOT and FAA an opportunity to reexamine the question of airline slots at slot-controlled airports. These two airlines have indicated that they do not need the slots they are ready to divest. In DCA, American Airlines has indicated that they do not need the slots that they have leased to JetBlue. And in the case of Southwest Airlines and Continental with their court-imposed leasing arrangements at Newark, the slot permissions have effectively been stripped from Continental Airlines by DOJ.
DOT and the FAA need to make a basic statement that airline slots at the handful of airports with slot restrictions will be treated as public assets rather than airline assets. Airlines that do not maintain their slot awards in the public interest or that have publicly declared that they do not need said slots for their operation should be divested of those slots.
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• This public good includes assigning slots to airlines that can use the slots as a profitable enterprise.
• Slots should be used to maximize the capacity of the airport — airlines that only utilize smaller commuter aircraft should have slots reassigned to other more efficient carriers that can offer a more robust lift.
• Slots should be allocated to airlines that have a history of profitably offering fair and balanced airfares.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
