Limiting the number of seats into airports is a dumb idea, I think. If the airlines want to schedule more flights than an airport can handle, thats their own choice. Limited or setting a min seat requirement just goes against competition and actually limited airlines' ability to fill seats.
But what will the passengers do if they can't have a departure every 45 minutes to suit thier schedule and 30 minute connections in a major hub. (Note Sarcasim)
Having lots of choices of departure is what keeps seats filled. Lots of folks say lets replace four RJ flights with one 737. Well I can assure you that, that 737 will probably carry as many passengers that can fit in the RJ. If people don't have a choice of departure times, they'll just simply choose another airline or mode of transport that goes when they want. This is especially true for the business traveller. I'm all for selling slots to prevent utter chaos, but you can't limit capacity when the demand is obviously there. I'm all for mainline pilots flying RJ's and fixing all the other nonsense in this industry.
I say build a new runway in JFK out in the bay and extend the Airtrain out to LGA. Passengers making connections can fly into LGA and take ride to their international flight at JFK. Thats my pie-in-the-sky solution to that.
