Says She Has Let Public Down With Delays, ATC Fight

There aren't very many days left in her term as FAA Administrator... but one US senator believes Marion Blakey should be removed from her post immediately.

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) called for the Administrator's head Tuesday, saying responsibility for the summer's increasing number of flight delays and cancellations ultimately rests with her.

"It falls clearly in the lap of the FAA and the FAA administrator," Schumer told The Associated Press, adding the number of delays is "getting to the point where it's intolerable."

The senator also blames Blakey for the ongoing, contentious feud between the FAA and the nation's air traffic controllers. While the relationship between the two entities has seldom been especially cordial, Schumer says it has sunk to new depths on the Administrator's watch.

"She has engaged in a counterproductive fight with the air traffic controllers, cut the number of controllers that are needed, and they sometimes lash back," said Schumer.

Blakey's five-year term as Administrator is due to expire in September of this year, although that term could, technically, be extended.

Schumer cites mounting problems at New York City-area airports -- arguably, those worst hit by delays this year -- as evidence the FAA is failing the American travelling public. Between January and April, 38 percent of all flights at Newark Liberty, John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports were either late or canceled, according to the AP... leading to ripple-effects nationwide.

"The leadership at the FAA time and again has failed New Yorkers," Schumer said, reports WABC-7. "So now it is time for that leadership to change. The FAA has single-handedly created a crisis in the skies over New York and done next to nothing to correct it. Not only are the skies more congested and tangled than ever, but the number of near misses on the runways has raised serious questions about overall safety. We need an FAA that works to fix these problems, not ignore them.

"If the FAA tomorrow were to put the adequate number of people in the control towers, the delays would decrease immediately," the senator added.

Schumer maintains the government needs to get involved, and enforce changes to reduce delays. So far, Schumer says, Blakey has refused to take that step... stating the nation's air traffic control equipment needs to be updated from its 1950s-era status, to incorporate the latest technologies.

As general aviation pilots know, Blakey has also marched in lockstep with airline interests, such as the Airline Transport Association, in calling for private and corporate pilots to pay a greater percentage of the cost of maintaining that system, in the form of added user fees.

While an FAA spokesperson declined comment to the AP, one wonders what others in the industry will have to say about the call for Ms. Blakey's resignation. Stay tuned.

FMI: www.faa.gov