The DOT will begin to auction off landing slots at airports…well at LaGuardia, Newark and JFK anyway…and "up to 10%" of the slots…and with "mounting opposition." I did say this was a little good news didn’t I?
A little good news
Previous post: Top ten blogs to read during the banking crisis
Next post: Humpty-Dumpty theories
Gosh, maybe Naomi Klein is right then! In times of crisis free market ideas make strides forwards!
Too early to call it a win, Matt. The airlines and airports have powerful allies, especially Sen. Chuck Schumer of NY. I strongly expect that this plan will be shutdown, slightly depending on how much the next Administration wants to fight for it. The Administration has been fighting for this for years, with few allies but many enemies.
I remember taking a foundations of experimental economics taught by Mark Olson. It was perhaps the most interesting econ course I’ve taken as an undergrad and I always was fascinated by the auction model he wanted implemented at airports. It seemed that, once again, we were being subjected to unnecessary deadweight loss. This is good news indeed.
I thought the published experiments involving these auctions showed that they were easily gamed?
Actually, at times they’ve also experimented with lottery giveaways of slots as well, but that’s hardly efficient either.
Comments on this entry are closed.