Says Likely Plan Will Stifle Competition, Not Help
Passengers
Congestion pricing is the most
effective way to reduce air travel delays and congestion at New
York-area airports, according to a new study by the Reason
Foundation... although that's likely not the way the government
will chose to deal with those problems.
As ANN reported last week, a
proposal hatched by the Bush administration three months ago to
fine airlines for using runways during peak hours -- thus, in
theory, more evenly spreading out departures and arrivals at New
York-area airports -- appears headed for defeat, due to stiff
opposition from the industry. The final report from the Aviation
Rulemaking Committee is expected later this week... and will likely
encourage airlines to use fewer, and larger, aircraft, and shift
traffic to underutilized airports, instead of congestion
pricing.
"It is disappointing that the federal plan to reduce delays was
unable to incorporate congestion pricing or produce a real auction
that puts every runway spot up for bid. The new plan is a band-aid
that won’t cure delays," said Robert Poole, who recently
advised the US Department of Transportation on this topic and is
lead author of the Reason Foundation report. "Airlines schedule
more flights than can be safely handled by today’s existing
runways and air traffic technology, but they don’t bear the
costs of the delays they create."
The Foundation cites a random day in New York this year. The
airlines scheduled 59 departures between 0800 and 0930 at JFK, even
though the Federal Aviation Administration can only safely handle
42 to 50 take-offs, depending on weather conditions. Passengers
were guaranteed to be delayed before the day even started.
To force airlines to confront the consequences of their
scheduling, the Reason Foundation study says runway fees, varying
by demand and time of day, should be set by airport operators (the
Port Authority in New York’s case) and that all three major
airports -- Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark -- should implement
congestion pricing, which would replace the current broken
weight-based landing fee system. The revenues from congestion
pricing should be put into a "lockbox," the Foundation adds,
exclusively devoted to expanding capacity at the three
airports.
Group Debunks Airline Arguments
Airlines counter congestion pricing,
saying it would be "ineffective, because there are no off-peak
times at the New York airports." The Foundation replies there are
definite peaks and valleys at all three airports. Sophisticated
modeling of congestion pricing shows prices of up to $1,200 per
plane produce significantly less traffic during LaGuardia’s
rush hours. At JFK, where peak charges would run $2,000 per plane
($10 per passenger on a 200-person aircraft), congestion pricing
would reduce the evening departure queue by a third, from
today’s 45 planes to 30 planes.
Smaller cities are worried airlines would stop service to them
if congestion pricing is implemented. But congestion pricing
simulations show very few flights to small and mid-size airports
will actually be eliminated, according to the foundation. Instead,
most of these flights will simply be moved to off-peak hours. Most
flights that would be cut from schedules are frequent small-jet
flights to major cities, which would be replaced by a smaller
number of flights on larger jets.
The airlines also allege that congestion pricing will hurt
domestic carriers and give an unfair advantage to foreign airlines.
But congestion pricing is fully compatible with international
aviation law and there is no basis for exempting foreign airlines.
Thus, all airlines would have to pay the same fees and be on a
level playing field.
"The airlines like to say congestion pricing will be a tax, but
that’s not true if the revenues are used to expand the
airports’ capacity," said Poole, who has advised the last
four presidential administrations. "Capacity expansion and
congestion pricing won’t be a tax and will work for all of
aviation’s interest groups. Replacing current landing fees
with true congestion pricing and guaranteeing that all revenues are
used to expand capacity is a win-win approach."