After a warning during the last week, the Air Transport Association of America, which is the trade organization for U.S. airlines, took a legal action against Federal Aviation Administration to close the auction of takeoff and landing slots near New York-area airports.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has already announced that will sue either in court or on Capitol Hill to stop the slot auctions.

According to ATA President and CEO James C. May, “As we said earlier that we would challenge the FAA decision in court and that’s what we are doing now. We have started the process to protect our members’ rights from today.”

The lawsuit, which has been filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, says that the slot auctions must be stopped as they go beyond the FAA’s authority and limits described by Congress.

On the other hand, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Transportation assert that the auctions are required to decrease congestion at Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty airports.

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