FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                           

Friday, July 20, 2001                                                                
Contact:  Bill Adams
Tel.:  (202) 366-5580
DOT 74-01

DOT Lists Transportation Accomplishments  
Of First 180 Days of Bush Administration

The U.S. Department of Transportation today released the following summary of its accomplishments under the Bush administration and the leadership of U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta.

Airline Strikes Averted
As the President’s designated “point man” on airline labor issues, Secretary Mineta has consistently and successfully pursued the resolution of disputes before they disrupted the busy summer travel season.

When the Bush Administration took office in January 2001, six major airlines – America West, American, Delta, Northwest, Southwest, and United – and one large regional airline (Comair) were engaged in protracted contract negotiations.  The outlook was gloomy.

Secretary Mineta personally met with the executives of the airlines, with union representatives -- and consistently worked with officials from the White House and the National Mediation Board – to advocate for the resolution of labor disputes in order to avoid any service disruptions.  In the past 180 days, strikes have been averted at Northwest, Delta, and American.  In addition, a Comair strike was settled after Secretary Mineta personally convened a meeting of both sides in his office.

Spring/Summer Plan
In February, the FAA began implementation of a new plan to reduce the number of delays travelers experience both on the ground and in the air during the peak spring/summer travel season.  The plan improved the collaboration between the FAA, airlines and airports. As a result of the Plan and other factors, we have seen the following:

• In the last three months (April, May and June), delays were down by 11 percent and ground stop delays, (the time a traveler is stuck on the tarmac) were reduced by 42 percent, compared to the same three months last year.

National Energy Policy
As a member of the Vice President’s Energy Policy Development Group, Secretary Mineta has helped to promote the recommendations of the President’s National Energy Policy in a number of press conferences and events across the nation. These events, focusing on the themes of congestion mitigation in our national transportation system and fuel efficiency, have included:

• Highlighting the success of one of the leading electric transit bus programs in the nation with a site visit to the Metropolitan Transit District in Santa Barbara, California
• Announcing, at San Francisco International Airport, its selection for participation in a grant program for low-emission airport vehicles.  
• The staging of alternative fuel vehicles at the grand re-opening of the I-15 highway in Salt Lake City, Utah.
• Participation in the award ceremony at the finish line in Boston, MA, of the weeklong, multi-state National Electric Vehicle Race.
• A site tour, followed by a town hall style meeting with employees of Rockwell Automation, a developer of cutting edge technology in an energy saving motor, in Cleveland, Ohio.

Open Skies Agreements
The Department of Transportation has continued to build on the progress in establishing Open-Skies agreements with its aviation partners that began with the previous Bush administration’s 1992 Open-Skies agreement with the Netherlands.  On May 1, the United States signed the first-ever multilateral Open-Skies agreement with Brunei, Chile New Zealand and Singapore.  In addition, an Open-Skies agreement was signed on June 16 between the United States and Poland. 

Open-Skies agreements allow unrestricted service by the airlines of each side to, from and beyond the other’s territory, without restrictions on where carriers fly, the number of flights they operate, or the prices they charge. 

The United States also held informal discussions with the United Kingdom June 26-27 in London, and with Hong Kong the week of July 9 in Hong Kong.  Upcoming aviation liberalization talks include informal discussions and negotiations with Japan during July 25-26 in Tokyo.

Maritime Agreement
In June, Secretary Mineta joined with Russia’s Minister of Transport to sign an important maritime agreement that will facilitate the flow of commerce between U.S. and Russian ports.

Drug Interdiction
The United States Coast Guard has continued to excel in the national fight against the importation of illegal drugs. In May, the fishing vessel Svesta Maru was seized by Coast Guard units off the coast of Central America carrying 13.6 tons of contraband, a maritime record.

Under the Bush Administration, the Department of Transportation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Belgium that enables Coast Guard law enforcement detachments to ride Belgian naval vessels in a cooperative international drug-interdiction effort.

In addition, the Department has signed a maritime counter-drug bilateral agreement with Honduras, increasing the level of cooperative engagement.

Briefing Room