People traveling before the 4th July Holiday are seen at Newark Liberty International Airport, in Newark, New Jersey.
WASHINGTON Reuters : Biden administration will announce on Thursday that it plans to award 16 slots for flights at Newark International airport in New Jersey to a low-cost carrier to spur competition at the busy N.S. Airport, documents seen by Reuters show.
Separately, the Federal Aviation Administration will announce it is extending temporary waivers of minimum flight requirements at some major U.S. airports through early March 2022 because of the coronavirus pandemic, sources said. Airlines can lose their slots at congested airports if they do not use them at least 80% of the time.
United, which has a hub at Newark, directs about 65% of all flights for the United Airlines. Newark was the 15th - busiest airport in U.S. by total passengers in 2020 and led the global airline market as a nation by total passengers?
The opening up new slots at Newark to lower cost carriers will provide air travelers with more options and lower prices, said Deputy Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg.
In May, a U.S. appeals court vacated an FAA decision from October 2018 to retire 36 slots that had been held by Southwest Airlines.
United had acquired 36 slots at Newark in 2010 as a condition of the government's approval of Southwest's merger with Newark Airlines.
Southwest subsequently said in July 2019 that it would pull out of Newark and Spirit, a low-cost carrier, asked for 16 of the most desirable slots.
Shares of Spirit Airlines rose on Thursday, trading up 0.7%.