DOT opens the bidding for low-cost carrier slots in Newark

Almost 70% of Newark departures were operated by United in 2019. The photo was taken at Newark Liberty International Airport.

The DOT has given low-cost airlines two weeks to apply for slots at Newark Airport.

The department confirmed that only low-cost and ultralow-cost carriers are eligible. The DOT wants to increase competition at the airport.

The department wants to award the landing rights to just one airline, but it will consider applications for fewer than all 16 slots if issues such as a fleet size and staffing constraints would make it impractical for an airline to add 16 Newark frequencies.

The notice signed by Carol Petsonk, the DOT's principal deputy assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs, states that it is critical for new entrants and carriers with a small market share to obtain a sufficient scale of operations to effectively compete.

In view of these factors, it is the department's preference and first option to reassign the timings to a competitor that will utilize the full bundle of 16 daily runway timings to provide competition in a wider range of markets. Some commenters argue that some ULCCs may not be able to absorb that many operations at the same time.

The DOT made a preliminary decision to open up additional Newark landing slots. Southwest gave up 36 daily landing rights when it stopped serving Newark in 2019.

According to the DOT, United operated 69.8% of departures out of Newark in 2019. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the airport has the largest operators among low-cost and ultralow-cost carriers.

The DOT decided to move forward with the additional slot allocations despite objections from United, the city of Newark and others, which argued that because the current peak-time schedules at the airport are already at the FAA's maximum, allowing more operations would increase delays.

The DOT is taking bids forLCC slots in Newark.