Organization Wants Restrictions On Corporate Flights

Continuing its public campaign to convince the traveling public that increased general aviation traffic is at least partly responsible for airline delays, on Monday the Air Transport Association requested the Federal Aviation Administration create temporary additional airspace capacity over the upcoming holiday period, by imposing ground delay programs at Teterboro Airport and other nearby general aviation airports when the agency imposes such programs at Newark Liberty International Airport, LaGuardia International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport.

In other words, ATA wants ground delays forced on the airlines, to apply to GA traffic, too... even if those planes aren't flying from Class B airports.

"The New York City metropolitan-area airspace is completely saturated and near gridlock," said ATA President and CEO James May, adding commercial airlines cancel hundreds of flights and inconvenience thousands of travelers due to air traffic control constraints, and strong summer thunderstorm activity.

"More than one-third of all air traffic delays in the country on June 28 were in congested New York airspace," he added.

According to the ATA, corporate flights now represent roughly 30 percent of all New York Terminal Radar Approach Control activity... and the organization has asked the FAA to impose restrictions on operators that may be currently unaffected by ground delay programs.

MSNBC reports corporate and commercial aircraft alike are subjected to the same delay programs at airports such as JFK, LGA and EWR, but the system does not apply to what it terms 'specialist airports' such as TEB.

A spokeswoman for the FAA told the Associated Press the agency would consider the ATA's proposal, but says there are several other items in the works to relieve the air congestion in the New York City area.

The ATA also asked the FAA to accelerate ATC modernization and airspace redesign around New York City, noting that congestion is likely to worsen as the system deteriorates further.

FMI: www.airlines.org, www.faa.org