RAA Blasts DOT Slot Decision

The Regional Airline Association blasted the Department of Transportation's decision to move forward with slot confiscation at New York metropolitan airports. The announcement comes as a crushing blow to smaller communities across the nation, said the organization, adding slot auctions will result in “devastating service losses.”
“DOT’s scheme will leave small communities disconnected as airlines, struggling with higher costs and reduced points of access to the system, will be forced to reduce service at smaller markets to focus on more profitable routes between large cities,” said President Roger Cohen. “In fact, a recent study by the NY and NJ Port Authority concluded that 25 small and medium-sized aviation markets would lose service to and from the New York metropolitan airports because auctions would force airlines to operate between large markets in order to make the slot purchase viable economically.”