REMARKS FOR
THE HONORABLE MARY PETERS
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
AVIATION CONGESTION RELIEF PLAN
MEDIA BRIEFING
WASHINGTON, D.C.
SEPTEMBER 27, 2007
2:45 PM
Good afternoon, and thank you for being here.
Earlier today, the President and I discussed the need to fix the aviation
gridlock that is making America’s skies increasingly unfriendly for a growing
number of travelers.
I told him we need to confront this challenge on multiple fronts – using
innovative new approaches to provide targeted relief for the nation’s most
congested airspace, modernizing our air traffic control system, and ensuring
better consumer protection.
Immediate actions we are taking on behalf of consumers include a rulemaking to
increase compensation for passengers involuntarily bumped from an oversold
flight, better information for travelers, and stepped up oversight of
chronically delayed flights.
We also are updating our complaint system and will be conducting reviews to
determine carrier compliance with consumer protection requirements.
In addition, we have a report released by the Inspector General earlier this
week. I have tasked the Department’s consumer protection officials with
addressing those recommendations in the report that we are not already covering.
We will be ready to act on these proposals by the end of the year.
But consumers need more. They need solutions to the problem of congestion, not
just the symptoms of delay. They need real flight schedules, not a guesstimate
as to when they may take off. Sitting on runways for hours and sleeping at
airports should not be part of the adventure of travel.
To help us get to the root causes of the delays – and fix them – we are bringing
together top executives from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; the
airlines that operate at New York’s three airports; aviation groups representing
pilots, commercial airlines, and general aviation; and consumer groups. They
will serve on what is known as an Aviation Rulemaking Committee, or ARC.
At their opening meeting earlier this afternoon, I charged them to be bold and
to identify market-based mechanisms and other policies that can be used to
reduce congestion and more efficiently allocate air space in the region.
I have asked them to finish their work by the end of the year. This time-frame
will hopefully allow us to provide relief for next summer’s travel season.
We are focusing on the New York area airports because delays there have a
rippling effect throughout the entire system. If we can fix delays in New York,
we will improve flying for a significant number of travelers. One-third of the
nation’s air traffic goes in, out, or over New York airspace – accounting for
three-quarters of the chronic airline delays.
Demand for travel at New York’s JFK Airport guarantees delays during peak hours,
even in the best of flight conditions. The airport has capacity for around 44
departures between 8 and 9 AM. But on a typical Tuesday morning in August,
airlines need room for 57 scheduled departures.
We will continue to monitor what happens in New York and with the ARC closely.
If necessary, we are prepared to take the next step and issue a scheduling
reduction order to reduce the number of flights scheduled at JFK Airport. So I
am also announcing today that the Department is convening a scheduling
committee, made up of the airlines operating at JFK. This committee will develop
recommendations for reducing the number of flights into and out of this
overcrowded airport.
Our preference is to find a way to let market incentives do the job, and not to
return to the days of government regulated flights and limited competition.
It is clear that without fundamental changes to the way that we manage air
traffic in New York, congestion everywhere will get worse, and even more
travelers will be inconvenienced.
Addressing New York will help, but the current air traffic control system is
simply incapable of addressing the flood of travelers taking to the sky – more
than a billion by 2015.
To prepare for this growing demand, earlier this year, the Administration
proposed a major reform bill that overhauls the nation’s air traffic control
system by changing the way we pay for it and by investing heavily in new
technologies. The new satellite-based system we are building will dramatically
expand airspace capacity over the next 20 years. That is key in the long-term.
We also asked Congress for greater freedom to allow the market to work to reduce
delays in the air and on the ground, now and into the future.
I am calling on Congress to put aside special interests and move quickly to pass
a bill that includes the kind of reform that will make a difference for
travelers.
We are acting aggressively to unclog the skies with the ARC, with New York
airspace redesign, and with new ways to manage our traffic. But, ultimately, the
challenge calls for broader solutions – solutions that won’t happen without the
help of Congress, the commitment of airlines, and the understanding of
travelers.
With the actions we are announcing today, I am confident that, if we all pull
together, passengers can look forward to a time when the skies are clear of
congestion and air travel is again comfortable and reliable. Thank you.
Now, I would like to ask Bobby Sturgell, Acting Federal Aviation Administrator,
to discuss the steps the FAA already is taking to address congestion at JFK.
Bobby…
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Briefing
Room
