WASHINGTON - The right to operate a single roundtrip flight at Newark Liberty Airport will be auctioned for a five-year lease on September 3, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters announced today.

"This auction will allow us to implement market mechanisms on a small scale, gauge interest and determine a slot's market value," Secretary Peters said. "However, the real winners in this auction will be consumers, who stand to benefit from more reliable air service that costs less in terms of both time and money."

The two slots were to be allocated to Eos Airlines earlier this year, but the airline filed for bankruptcy leaving the FAA with control of the slots. The winner would be able to operate at Newark daily, arriving at 5:00 to 5:30 p.m. every day but Monday and Saturday, when the arrival would be from 12:00 to 12:30 p.m., and departing daily from 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. The funds generated from the auction will be used to reduce delays and enhance capacity at New York-area airports.

Tomorrow, the terms and conditions of the lease and details of the auction process will be made available on the FAA's procurement Web site (http://faaco.faa.gov) where they will be available for public comment until August 18. After taking into consideration all comments on both the lease and the process, a final notice and invitation to bid will be published August 25 and the auction will take place on September 3.

"Market-based mechanisms are the best way to assure consumers will receive quality service at affordable prices, and we've proposed several measures that embrace these mechanisms. Indeed, such measures have been very successful at managing congestion in other transportation modes and can provide strong incentives for more efficient use of a strained resource, like New York-area airports," Secretary Peters said.