CAPBOR Says Too Little, Too Late; NATCA Says It Will Have "No
Real Effect"
President Bush's plan to reduce airline delays over the upcoming
holiday travel season was met with raised eyebrows and
much skepticism Thursday by the Coalition for an Airline
Passengers’ Bill of Rights, and the National Air Traffic
Controllers Association.
CAPBOR founder Kate Hanni said the Bush plan effectively
postpones a decision on the passenger bill of rights legislation
now before Congress, tied into the FAA reauthorization bill.
"Today the President outlined steps to effort to alleviate
delays over this year’s Thanksgiving holiday," Hanni told
ANN. "However, these band-aid solutions will do nothing to address
the harms caused to passengers and in no way compels airlines to
reform how their customers are treated. This stopgap measure
is too little, too late, and will do nothing to help the fact that
the airlines overload thousands of flights into hub airports at
rush hour, causing massive delays and for passengers to be stranded
for hours on end."
Hanni also criticized the plan to open up military airspace in
the northeastern US for commercial flights, saying it "is like
adding a lane to an exit ramp on I-95 north of Miami.
"For months, there has been lots of talk about modernizing our
system and airline customer service, but its time for Congress to
take action," Hanni said. "That’s why we urge the President
to work with Congress to secure rights for those traveling our
nation’s airways, and to finally pass a Passengers’
Bill of Rights as part of the FAA Reauthorization bill."
Doug Church, spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers
Association, said for all the pomp and circumstance, the Bush plan
"will have no real effect whatsoever.
"This is because there are 7.5 percent fewer veteran, fully
trained air traffic controllers on staff at FAA air traffic
facilities nationwide this holiday season than in 2006, handling 4
percent more traffic," Church said. "If anything, delays will
INCREASE this holiday season, not decrease. Until the FAA finds a
way to keep its veteran controllers on staff to handle holiday
traffic, and ALL traffic year-round, and train new hires, the
system will continue to deteriorate.
"We are losing an average of three controllers a day due to the
current labor situation (we have no contract)," Church adds. "In
fiscal year 2007, 856 veteran controllers retired, 36 percent more
than the FAA projected, including half in their FIRST YEAR of
retirement eligibility. Only 16 were forced to retire (age 56
mandatory retirement). The controller workforce is tired, fed up
and stressed out.
NATCA also points out the FAA tried once before to increase
airspace, with the 2005 implementation of Domestic Reduced Vertical
Separation Minimums, or RVSM.
"It didn’t work in terms of reducing delays," Church said.
"[I]t doubled the amount of high altitude airspace that controllers
could use for flights above 29,000 feet, by reducing minimum
separation from 2,000 feet between planes to 1,000 feet. How did it
affect delays? Well in 2007, delays were the worst on record! So
clearly, airspace is not the problem. Staffing is the problem, in
addition to limited ground capacity at major airports like JFK. You
only have so many gates and so many runways."