Slot scramble in the States

Just a quick note to tell you that way out over in our sister blog Left Field, there's a post outlining a bitter dispute that pits the Secretary of Transportation, Mary Peters, the FAA, and some thinkers against the airline industry, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and some other thinkers. The FAA is set to auction off a set of landing slots at the Newark Liberty airport near New York City, and the port, which owns the airport, as well as the Air Transport Association and a New York senator, are trying to block it. Even though the September 3 auction has been postponed, the issue and the precedent it will set are far from settled.