New System for Assigning Airport Time Slots

Government regulators responded to an ongoing graft investigation by overhauling the system for assigning takeoff and landing slots at China's airports.

A 10-point reform initiative announced by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is designed to prevent the payoffs that investigators say were traded for years in exchange for favorable time slots.

A key reform involved canceling regular meetings of Flight Time Slot Coordination Committee, whose members apparently awarded jewels to selected domestic airlines and glass to the rest. In its place, CAAC formed a collective approval system aimed at a fairer, although possibly slower, system of assigning slots.

"Before, kowtowing to higher-ups could be done all at once," said a former employee of a state-owned airline. "After abolishing the coordination committee, it will have to be done door-to-door."

And the "public relations" that used to be completed in just a couple of weeks "will now take longer," the ex-employee said. Moreover, "the costs are higher and efficiency slower."

CAAC's reforms cover management of flight time slots, abolishing the once-a-month approval for unscheduled flights, and scrapping the committee's biannual decision meetings.