Wed, Aug 31, 2011
Urges FAA To Step Up Implementation Of New Air Traffic
Procedures
Airline industry trade group ATA issued a call Monday for the FAA
to accelerate its timetable for implementing new and more efficient
air traffic procedures, a key pillar of a needed National Airline
Policy. "Near-term FAA action will help government focus on
priorities that can provide immediate economic – and
importantly – customer-service benefits," said ATA President
and CEO Nicholas E. Calio (pictured) in a speech to the Boyd
Group International Aviation Forecast Summit. "The airline industry
faces daunting levels of taxation and regulation, and not
addressing these matters quickly stifles our ability to further
drive economic growth and puts us at greater risk to foreign
competition."
As a first step toward executing a National Airline Policy, the
ATA called on the Obama Administration and the FAA to focus its
resources on expediting the most cost-beneficial elements of
NextGen, including performance-based procedures. Other priorities
include the following:
- An accelerated one-year implementation schedule for the FAA
Navigation Procedures Project (NAV Lean).
- Streamlining the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
review processes to expedite the development and implementation of
Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) and other environmentally
beneficial and fuel-saving NextGen procedures.
- Development of metrics to gauge the outcome and performance of
the government's implementation of NextGen capabilities and
procedures.
"We are at an inflection point," Calio said. "We can do what we
have always done and get the same results. Or, we can do something
different, to a different outcome, one that benefits our customers,
our employees, and yes, even our shareholders. One that ensures we
can be globally competitive and create, maintain and grow American
jobs."
ATA recently reported that publicly held U.S. passenger airlines
posted a $290 million net loss for the first half of 2011.
Operating revenues for the same period were $8.4 billion higher
compared to 2010, but expenses climbed $9.7 billion. "This industry
cannot continue to lose billions of dollars, thousands of jobs and
fly people from one place to another for less than it costs to get
them there," Calio said.
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