Airborne Rush Hour
Corporate, private aircraft must pay fair share to fix air traffic system
As any frequent flyer knows, the friendly skies are getting more crowded. Not only are airline cabins becoming more cramped, the planes themselves are stacking up above busy airports such as Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, leading to considerable flight delays and missed connections.
Yet the agency charged with controlling that airspace, the Federal Aviation Administration, is still working with a 1950s-era air traffic control system badly in need of a technological upgrade.
At a cost of up to $20 billion, that upgrade won't be cheap. And while commercial passengers will pay the bulk of that cost, it's time that private and corporate aircraft — which account for 16 percent of the air traffic system's overhead — started paying their fair share.
FAA Chief Marion Blakey is understandably frustrated by the lack of congressional action on the issue. Her agency's funding expires Sept. 30 and unless Congress acts quickly as it returns from the Labor Day recess, a massive disruption of air traffic is possible. Blakey has asked Congress to start charging user fees to corporate jets and private aircraft to more fairly distribute the burden of funding air traffic control.
A bipartisan bill in the Senate, approved by the Commerce Committee, would impose a $25 fee on each flight regardless of the aircraft's size. A competing bill passed by the House Transportation Committee would pay for the air traffic upgrade through higher fuel taxes. However, committees with jurisdiction over taxes in the House and Senate have yet to take up the issue.
Blakey describes the debate as "a huge food fight" that pits corporate chief executives, who are heavy users of private airplanes, against the commercial airline industry. Neither group generates much public sympathy, but both hold some sway with members of Congress.
Shifting some of the burden to private aircraft makes sense. Air traffic delays over major cities and busy hubs such as Atlanta are getting worse as commercial jets carrying hundreds of passengers jockey for position with private jets carrying fewer than a half dozen. With the FAA operating on a "first come, first served" basis, a small Gulfstream gets equal priority for takeoff as a Boeing 737.
Meanwhile, the percentage of commercial flights arriving more than 45 minutes late has nearly doubled since 2002, from 5.3 percent to 10 percent this year. With flights operating at nearly 90 percent capacity, passengers who miss connections often have a hard time catching another flight and can be stranded for hours.
Airlines are not without blame for those delays, but observers believe that the popularity of private jets among business executives is a big part of the problem.
"Corporate jets may be smaller, but they still take up space," Steve Danishek, a travel industry consultant from Seattle, told The New York Times. "There are just a finite number of slots and we have no wiggle room left."
To clear the cluttered skies and make them safer, Congress must act now to get the FAA what it needs.
-------------------------------------------------------
By: Mike King
For the editorial board
Source: http://www.ajc.com
Corporate, private aircraft must pay fair share to fix air traffic system
As any frequent flyer knows, the friendly skies are getting more crowded. Not only are airline cabins becoming more cramped, the planes themselves are stacking up above busy airports such as Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, leading to considerable flight delays and missed connections.
Yet the agency charged with controlling that airspace, the Federal Aviation Administration, is still working with a 1950s-era air traffic control system badly in need of a technological upgrade.
At a cost of up to $20 billion, that upgrade won't be cheap. And while commercial passengers will pay the bulk of that cost, it's time that private and corporate aircraft — which account for 16 percent of the air traffic system's overhead — started paying their fair share.
FAA Chief Marion Blakey is understandably frustrated by the lack of congressional action on the issue. Her agency's funding expires Sept. 30 and unless Congress acts quickly as it returns from the Labor Day recess, a massive disruption of air traffic is possible. Blakey has asked Congress to start charging user fees to corporate jets and private aircraft to more fairly distribute the burden of funding air traffic control.
A bipartisan bill in the Senate, approved by the Commerce Committee, would impose a $25 fee on each flight regardless of the aircraft's size. A competing bill passed by the House Transportation Committee would pay for the air traffic upgrade through higher fuel taxes. However, committees with jurisdiction over taxes in the House and Senate have yet to take up the issue.
Blakey describes the debate as "a huge food fight" that pits corporate chief executives, who are heavy users of private airplanes, against the commercial airline industry. Neither group generates much public sympathy, but both hold some sway with members of Congress.
Shifting some of the burden to private aircraft makes sense. Air traffic delays over major cities and busy hubs such as Atlanta are getting worse as commercial jets carrying hundreds of passengers jockey for position with private jets carrying fewer than a half dozen. With the FAA operating on a "first come, first served" basis, a small Gulfstream gets equal priority for takeoff as a Boeing 737.
Meanwhile, the percentage of commercial flights arriving more than 45 minutes late has nearly doubled since 2002, from 5.3 percent to 10 percent this year. With flights operating at nearly 90 percent capacity, passengers who miss connections often have a hard time catching another flight and can be stranded for hours.
Airlines are not without blame for those delays, but observers believe that the popularity of private jets among business executives is a big part of the problem.
"Corporate jets may be smaller, but they still take up space," Steve Danishek, a travel industry consultant from Seattle, told The New York Times. "There are just a finite number of slots and we have no wiggle room left."
To clear the cluttered skies and make them safer, Congress must act now to get the FAA what it needs.
-------------------------------------------------------
By: Mike King
For the editorial board
Source: http://www.ajc.com
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