An FAA auction for the right to operate flights at New Jersey’s Newark airport has been suspended while regulators review airline complaints that the sale would be illegal.

“The protesters have demonstrated compelling reasons to maintain the status quo” pending a study of their objections, Kerry Long, the Federal Aviation Administration’s chief counsel, said in an order today in Washington.

Five airlines, Continental Airlines Inc., US Airways Group Inc., UAL Corp.’s United Airlines, Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp, have filed a protest over the auction.

Posted: 08|29|08 at 9:04 am. Filed under: Auction News.