Delays "out of control" - Sen. Schumer

Senator Charles Schumer, speaking at a news conference in Rochester, echoed the feelings of many Americans when he said that air travel delays have become "off the chart and out of control." (link)

With the airlines pushing more and more flights into hub airports, Sen. Schumer charged the FAA with a failure to regulate congestion. Schumer also called the development of a new air traffic control system a "crucial step."

Why, then, are the commercial airlines opposing a bill that would provide historic levels of funding for modernizing our national air traffic control system?

Inaccurate flight information on airline websites

As frequent fliers know all too well, one's flight can be delayed for hours before an explanation is given - if it ever is! With information often hard to come by at the airport, many turn to the Internet for flight information. According to today's Wall Street Journal, "In these days of long delays, flight tracking and flight status alerts have become important tools for travelers." (link)

Unfortunately, as we find all too often when dealing with the major airlines, the information they provide is often outdated, misleading, or just plain wrong. Check out this Wall Street Journal article for a few examples - such as when a flight delayed by four hours was described on the airline's website as arriving twelve minutes early.

Aviation Week Gets It Right!!!!!

Aviation Week Says GA Not Causing Delays!!!!!!!!

Controllers Say Bizjets Not Causing Delays in New York Area

By David Hughes A group of National Air Traffic Control Assn. union officials say that short staffed ATC facilities and airline over scheduling are causing air traffic delays in the New York City area, not business jet flights. The Air Transport Assn. has been claiming that the bizjets operating out of Teterboro, a main business jet hub airport, are not taking their fair share of delays -- adding to airline woes. NATCA Eastern Regional Vice President Phil Barbarello says it's not true that business jets are causing delays in the New York area because they have "separate arrival fixes and separate airspace when they enter the New York Terminal Radar Control (TRACON) area, and they don't impede air carriers." In fact, he added, bizjet arrivals are often restricted to accommodate airline arrivals at Newark. Eddie Kragh, the NATCA facility representative at the Newark tower, says this airport has a very restricted capacity of 22 departures per half hour. But on Oct. 2, between 9 and 9:30 a.m., the airport had scheduled 33 departures to deal with. This amounts to an "automatic built-in delay" for 11 aircraft he adds. NATCA President Patrick Forrey say his union believes delays will continue to increase next year ion the New York area. He echoed Kragh in saying airlines over scheduling there and around the nation is part of the problem. Air carrier operations have grown in the New York area by 14% over the past five years while general aviation activity has shrunk 9%, according to Forrey. At Newark and LaGuardia only 3.5% of departures involve general aviation traffic while at John F. Kennedy International it is only 1.7%. ATA's claim about bizjets in the New York area is a "fallacy and a distraction from the real issues," Forrey concludes. As always, NATCA continues to harp on controller shortages as one of two key reasons for delays in the New York area and nationwide. Dean Iacopelli, the NATCA representative at the New York TRACON, says prior to Sept., 2006, the FAA authorized this facility to be staffed by 270 certified air traffic controllers. Now the authorized number has been reduced to a maximum of 188 "based solely on budget." Iacopelli says this is the lowest staffing level in 10 years when the New York Tracon is facing the highest volume of traffic ever at JFK. Barrett Byrnes, the NATCA representative at the JFK tower, says is now handling 1,400 operations per day (up 40%) with a controller workforce that has shrunk from 37 to 25 for round the clock operations. And one more controller is due to leave this year while five of the most senior ones face mandatory retirement next year while six more will probably choose to retire voluntarily, he says. http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=busav&id=news/DELA10047.xml

Air travel problems must be fixed before 2020

As seen yesterday on this blog, the airlines like to blame our air traffic control system for any problem that arises. While all segments of aviation agree that modernizing ATC is very important, the NextGen system "is not likely to significantly improve air travel until 2020." (link)

Are passengers expected to put up with delays like this summer's for more than a decade? It's time for the airlines to step up to the plate and help solve the problem - in 2007, not 2020. Putting an end to overscheduling would be a good starting point.

What Will The Airlines Think of Next?

The Aero-News Network is reporting that that the airlines are trying to blame lost luggage on air traffic control system.

"Somewhat curiously -- given the airlines themselves made this decision -- carriers also blame luggage woes on the abundance of regional aircraft, which can't carry as many bags as their larger mainline brethren.

"The Air Transport Association -- lobbying group for the nation's airlines -- was quick to make an arguably tenuous connection between lost baggage, and the nation's aging ATC system.

"'The primary reason behind mishandled bags is delayed and misconnected flights,' said ATA spokesman Dave Castelveter. 'And we're seeing record delays this summer... No airline tries to [lose bags]... The carriers are trying the best they can given the existing situation.'"

http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?ContentBlockID=99f079ab-cb76-425a-a520-6ec72ccc067a&

What will the airlines try next, blaming the peanuts for tasting funny on the airport's ground crew?

Great Article on AOPA's Website

AOPA posted this great article on its website - it's right on!!!

Here's the link and the aritcle is reproduced below.

http://www.aopa.org/advocacy/articles/2007/070927whitehouse.html

Even the White House blames the airlines

By Warren D. Morningstar

The White House and the Department of Transportation announced Sept. 27 that they were taking "new steps" to tackle "aviation congestion and delays" in New York and across the nation. But there's less there than meets the eye, according to House transportation leaders.

"The administration's proposal contains a good deal of talking and planning, but little action to address the delay problem and help consumers in the short term," said House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn).

"While the airlines have consistently tried to blame general aviation for their delay problems, the White House did finally acknowledge that airlines themselves were, in fact, a significant factor," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. The administration's fact sheet said that the Department of Transportation has started a process to "help the busiest airports adopt new policies to efficiently address chronic airline over-scheduling, which leads to long lines and delays on the tarmac."

Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), the top Republican on the Transportation Committee, echoed that assessment by saying, "The administration needs to put the brakes on airline over-scheduling at our most congested airports. We must recognize the need for additional runways and new airports."

The administration also announced the formation of the New York Aviation Rulemaking Committee (NYARC) that will "explore market-based mechanisms and other options for addressing airspace congestion and flight delays in the New York area."

But the announcement wasn't even public before the airlines attacked it. The Air Transport Association sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, objecting to congestion pricing and other market-based mechanisms that would "artificially constrain" demand.

ATA called congestion pricing a tax, and said neither the DOT nor the FAA had the authority to impose a tax.

The administration also accused Congress of failing to act on its FAA funding proposal (which included user fees and huge tax increases for general aviation), suggesting lawmakers had to accept some blame for chronic airline delays.

The leaders of the Transportation Committee took umbrage with that.

"This administration put forward an extremely controversial financing proposal for which there was absolutely no consensus," Oberstar, aviation subcommittee Chairman Jerry Costello (D-Ill.), and aviation subcommittee senior member Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said in a joint Sept. 27 statement.

"The administration's controversial funding proposal has directly contributed to the delay in passing legislation reauthorize the FAA.... [It] failed completely to hold the airlines responsible for what we are now told are 'scheduling practices that are at times out of line with reality.'

"It is the Bush administration that is once again out of line with reality." They said that "lack of oversight" and "failure to use statutory authority" by the administration has played a part in the suffering of airline passengers today.

During a press conference, the Transportation Committee leaders noted that their FAA funding bill (H.R.2881, which has passed the House) would provide $1 billion more for air traffic control modernization (NextGen) than the administration's proposal, and $4 billion more for airports.

High stakes for rural America

Niel Ritchie, executive director of the League of Rural Voters and an Alliance board member, says that small rural towns stand to lose out if new fees and taxes are enacted on general aviation. In a Minneapolis Star-Tribune opinion piece, Ritchie writes that many rural communities depend on general aviation for economic survival.

Read the full story here.