WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), the Ranking Republican on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today released the following statement in response to Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s announcement that the department was proposing to rescind plans for slot auctions at New York-area airports.  Senator Hutchison joined several Senators last summer to strongly oppose the auction proposal, including Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), then Chairman of the Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security Subcommittee, and then Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii).

“I am pleased that Secretary LaHood recognized the slot auction proposal from last year would have done little to alleviate the chronic air congestion that surrounds the New York area,” said Senator Hutchison.  “As I stated in a letter to then Secretary Peters, this was an untested, unproven, and unauthorized policy.  The Department should instead focus its resources on alleviating congestion at all airports by improving the FAA’s operations, increasing airport capacity, and modernizing the nation’s air transportation system through NextGen implementation.”

#  #  #