U.S. says flight caps coming at JFK and Newark airports

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Airlines have agreed to cap the number of flights going in and out of New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport during peak periods to cut delays and are negotiating to do the same at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport, the U.S. Transportation Department said on Wednesday.

The agency also said it would auction takeoff and landing rights in New York when new capacity becomes available to increase competition and better manage demand. Major U.S. and international airlines may challenge that provision if carriers conclude that they will wind up losing actual flights or the ability to offer them.

"These new measures will cut delays, protect consumer choice, support New YorkYork'ss economy, and allow for new flights as we bring new capacity online," Transportation Secretary Mary Peters told a news conference.

JetBlue Airways, which is based at JFK, said the caps there were "regrettable but necessary" to improve the flow of traffic and its own operations.

International carriers, several dozen of which use JFK as a gateway for their U.S. operations, strongly objected to the auction proposal, saying through their trade group that it could result in fewer flight choices and higher prices.

JFK had the most serious flight delays of any U.S. airport this year. The problem is also acute at other New York-area airports, affecting traffic nationwide. More than a third of U.S. air traffic uses or flies over the metropolitan New York region.

Under the plan at JFK, peak operations will be limited to between 82 flights and 83 flights per hour beginning in March. Carriers will be allowed to shift some flights to off-peak hours.

The government plans similar caps for Newark to run concurrently to prevent airlines from simply shifting some of the JFK flights to New Jersey. The exact hourly limit for Newark is still being negotiated but regulators hope to have a plan in place by March.

Transportation officials, under pressure from the White House, forged changes to New York operations after delays mounted this past summer. Airlines mainly blamed bad weather and air traffic control limitations for delays, while consumer groups, some in Congress and transportation planners also said carrier scheduling was a major factor.

(Reporting by John Crawley; editing by Leslie Gevirtz, Phil Berlowitz)