About 300 new flights were added, and the resulting jam pushed LaGuardia past Chicago's O'Hare as the nation's worst airport for delays. The FAA followed by reducing the number of new flights to 159 and assigning the slots through a lottery system. With the Sept. 15 deadline looming, officials are scrambling for a long-term solution. The concept of peak-hour pricing, in which airlines would pay more to land at an airport during busy periods, is not new. But it has received renewed attention in recent months as a way to reduce congestion.
Airlines pay a flat landing fee based on an airplane's weight.
Each airplane takes up a valuable landing slot. Experts argue that since the 767 can carry nearly six times as many passengers as the regional jet, it's a more efficient way to transport people. A restructured landing fee that is not based on the weight of the aircraft could give airlines an incentive to use larger planes, Port Authority officials say. At LaGuardia, there are so many regional jets in use that 25 percent of the planes carry only 5 percent of the passengers. The new fees most likely would involve a surcharge during peak periods, but there is disagreement on how much landing fees would need to be increased to convince airlines to use larger planes or move flights to off-peak hours.