Slot auctions at Newark, JFK? and more

• The Department of Transportation has announced a plan to “introduce market forces” by auctioning off slots at JFK and Newark airports. (This assumes that the FAA owns the slots, not the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.) This is a weird decision; it’s privatization by the “little bit pregnant” strategy and it may backfire. [AP/Aviaton.com] See commentary at Travel Industry.
• United and US Airways continue to move toward a risky merger. . . . [Today in the Sky]
• . . . But the US Airways pilots, whose seniority list has not been merged yet with America West’s, are opposed. [ATW Daily News]
• Russia’s first modern jetliner in over a decade took flight today — the Sukhoi SuperJet 100. [Things with Wings]