Airports can charge premium for peak time landing fees

Coverage from the WSJ.

See the DC Circuit's Blog. Air Transp. Ass'n of Am. v. US Dept. of Transp., No. 08-1293, involved a petition for review of amendments to the Department of Transportation's (DOT) 1996 Policy Regarding Airport Rates and Charges allowing an airport to charge aircraft higher landing fees at peak times, a practice known as congestion pricing. The court of appeals denied the petition on the grounds that 1) the court deferred to the DOT's reasonable interpretation of the statutory prohibition of unjust discrimination; 2) setting landing fees that complied with all applicable statutes and regulations was within the scope of an airport authority's power as proprietor; and 3) because the amendments left only two variables to the discretion of the airport proprietor, and thus set out a nearly complete pricing algorithm, the DOT provided sufficient guidance.

Opinion.