Airline Challenge to Airport Congestion Pricing Is Rejected
Transportation Secretary Mary Peters testify at a House of Representatives Committee in Washington. Photographer: Jamie Rose/Bloomberg
A U.S. appeals court rejected an airline industry challenge to a regulation letting airport operators charge more at busy times of the day to reduce delays.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied the petition by the carriers’ Washington trade group, the Air Transport Association, which represents companies including Delta Air Lines Inc. and AMR Corp., the owner of American Airlines. The carriers argued the July 2008 regulation by the Transportation Department was discriminatory and unreasonable.
The “creativity” of regulators should be welcomed to alleviate flight congestion, the appeals court wrote.
“It is entirely reasonable to expect an airline, and in turn its passengers, to pay a premium for the opportunity to arrive at a peak time,” the court wrote.
When the regulation was put in place, then-Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters said it would encourage airlines to spread out flights to less-busy hours and use bigger planes and less crowded airports.
In its challenge, the airlines also claimed the regulation wrongfully allowed state and local airport authorities to charge fees preempted by federal law and provided inadequate guidance to the airports on how the Department of Transportation would evaluate the reasonableness of the fees.
The Air Transport Association said it is reviewing the decision.
“We remain concerned about the threat of unreasonable and unjustified airport rates and charges and their potential adverse impact on the cost of air transportation,” the group said in an e-mailed statement.
The case is Air Transport Association of America Inc. v. U.S. Department of Transportation, 08-1293, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (Washington).
To contact the reporter on this story: William McQuillen in Washington at bmcquillen@bloomberg.net.
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