Congestion Pricing Won’t Fly

Adding to the strong opposition voiced by the Regional Airline Association (RAA) recently, airlines may sue to stop the Department of Transportation-proposed congestion pricing schemes at busy airports. Related Story The Air Transport Association questioned DOT’s authority in setting congestion fees and said in a recent letter to DOT Secretary Mary Peters, that they are “legally indefensible.” The comment period ended last week amid stiff opposition to the fees that were to be unilaterally imposed last month but delayed to give airlines a chance to comment. The industry has said with one voice that the problem is not so much congestion as the FAA’s failure to accommodate by long-awaiting capacity increases promised under modernization.
In also opposing the $25 user fee proposed as part of FAA reauthorization, RAA asserted that congested airports such as JFK have already lost much of their small community air service and cutting them further would serve no purpose since it is the narrow-bodies and over-saturation in such leisure markets as Florida that is the cause of the problem.
DOT’s proposal is based on flawed assumptions, especially regarding the operating characteristics of regional aircraft, said RAA. RAA called the proposal to ban small aircraft from certain airports anti-consumer, anti-competitive and said it will have dire consequences for small communities, the national air transportation system, and the U.S. economy.