Says DOT/FAA Plan Based On "Ideological, Market-Based Theory"

The gloves are off. New York Senator Chuck Schumer joined with the Air Transport Association and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Wednesday, to mount a united front against plans by the Department of Transportation to impose flight caps and slot auctions at three New York City-area airports.

Schumer, a Democrat, slammed the DOT's proposed experiment as based on "ideological, market-based theory" trumpeted by the Bush Administration, adding it doesn't address other possible reasons for flight delays and crowded airports.

"Instead of focusing on real, tested solutions to solve this problem, like upgrading decades-old technology and hiring an adequate number of controllers to staff New York’s towers, the DOT continues to miss the point," Schumer (right) said, reports The New York Times. "To make matters worse, the FAA's treatment of controllers has lead to an unprecedented rash of retirements thus compounding the problem."

As ANN reported, DOT Secretary Mary Peters announced last month three measures aimed at curbing flight delays at JFK International, Newark Liberty Airport and LaGuardia. The DOT implemented a temporary cap on scheduled flights at Newark at an average of 83 per hour from June 1 until October 2009, and also opened a 60-day comment window on a plan for landing slots at JFK and Newark.

The agency readily admits those measures are experiments, to see if such caps and slot auctions would be effective around New York, and elsewhere.

Those measures fail to acknowledge what Schumer says is the real issue, however -- inadequate air traffic control technology, operated by too few controllers. The Senator said he's also placed a hold on Senate confirmation of Robert Sturgell as FAA Administrator; Sturgell favors flight caps.

"If the DOT and FAA don;t take steps upgrade the technology, improve capacity at New York’s airports and hire, train and retain more full time controllers, we are going to see a complete meltdown in the skies over New York," Schumer threatened.

In response to Schumer's heated remarks, DOT spokesman Brian Turmail said the Senator is jumping on this particular bandwagon a bit late.

"Senator Schumer appears to be more interested in obstructing measures to cut delays than he is in modernizing the nation’s air traffic control system and managing chronic aviation congestion," Turmail said. "It is tempting to imagine how much better air travel may have been last year had the Senator demonstrated the same enthusiasm 17 months ago for our proposal to improve the nation’s aviation network as he does now in supporting higher fares, poorer service and less competition.

"Fortunately for air travelers, the Bush Administration will continue to pursue aggressive steps to make operational improvements, expand aviation capacity and put in place solutions to scheduling practices that jam runways at the busiest times of the day."

William R. DeCota, director of aviation for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, wasn't nearly as bellicose in his statements as the bombastic senator... but he did say Schumer's on the right track.

Stating a 2000 FAA plan to stimulate competition for flights at New York-area regional airports has failed to achieve its intended results, DeCota said he expects the DOT's latest plan will also fall flat.

"Unfortunately, after seven years we are no closer to a workable solution. Rather, the Administration has chosen to impose an approach that we, as the airport operator, think is not only illegal but also disastrous; that the vast majority of the carriers, including the legacy and low cost carriers, are opposed to; and that consumers, represented by such groups as the Air Travelers Association and the Business Travelers Coalition, believe will ultimately harm rather than help them."

DeCota also questioned if the DOT has authority to hold slot auctions without Congressional approval. "Nowhere in the Federal Aviation Act is there a declaration that slots are property and nowhere is there the authorization to auction or lease slots for monetary compensation there from," he said.

FMI: www.dot.gov, www.airlines.org, www.panynj.gov, http://schumer.senate.gov/