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REMARKS FOR
THE HONORABLE MARY PETERS
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
JFK AIRLINE SCHEDULING MEETING
WASHINGTON, D.C.
OCTOBER 23, 2007
9:30 AM
Good morning, and thank you all for coming today. We are here to talk about
schedules, and I appreciate that yours are extremely busy. Your presence and
willingness to help solve a problem of great national importance is deeply
appreciated.
We have a serious problem at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The chronic
delays too many have experienced at JFK impact travelers to and from New York,
and across the entire aviation system.
President Bush has made it clear that the conditions travelers experienced this
summer are unacceptable and must be fixed. When nearly a third of scheduled
flights are cancelled or delayed… when passengers are stranded for hours on
runways… it is easy to understand why consumer frustration is reaching the
boiling point.
The President has tasked me with finding solutions to this problem and with
providing as much relief to travelers as we can in the shortest amount of time
possible.
This scheduling meeting is part of a three-pronged approach to address chronic
New York delays that are causing crippling congestion throughout the nation. In
addition to this scheduling meeting, we have pulled together a group of airline,
airport, and travel officials. We have charged them with developing a series of
market-based measures to reduce congestion at New York’s three airports before
the start of the 2008 summer travel season.
I have been very candid about our strong preference for using market mechanisms
like congestion pricing to preserve passenger choice while reducing delays. We
also want to improve consumer protections and ensure consumers have the data
they need to make appropriate choices.
You will be working in tandem with these efforts. And, while it is clear we have
high hopes for market-based incentives, we may very well need scheduling
reductions to help solve congestion in the near term.
On Friday, the FAA took the first step in this process by identifying the number
of flights JFK can handle. We know that capacity at JFK is not infinite, and we
have seen the painful results when too many flights are scheduled to take off
too close together.
So, we are asking you to work with us to match the number and timing of your
flights to the airport’s capacity as a potential short-term remedy to air
congestion. We owe it to our passengers to work together to develop schedules
based on the realities of the market.
I am not in favor of a system that limits competition, nor do I want to reduce
the ability of new entrants to fly into New York. We are serious about exploring
all options to reduce congestion in the New York region, and we must consider
schedule reductions.
Today is the day to think about the passengers. We have got to make sure the
options customers have are real. When publishing schedules that offer 61
departing flights between 8 and 9 a.m. – when the airport can handle only 44
departures –is not fair to fliers.
The good news is that some of you are already making adjustments to your
schedules to move flights out of JFK at peak times. We appreciate it and need
more of that.
Short-term solutions are important. But they are no substitute for long-term
sustainable solutions. We’ll continue to pursue solutions that expand capacity
like the recently announced airspace redesign for New York, a move that could
cut delays by 20 percent. And it is imperative that we get a sensible bill from
Congress – and soon – that supports infrastructure and technology improvements
to keep up with growing demand. Our lasting goal is not to reduce the number of
people flying, but to improve and expand our ability to serve them.
We have got a problem with crippling congestion and debilitating delays at JFK
and across this country. We understand the issue and we are going to do what it
takes to address it. And I appreciate your willingness to help explore and keep
open every available option to do that.
Thank you in advance for your efforts.
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