The Politics Of Airline Travel

Congress Wants Airlines To Reduce Runway Congestion, Delays And Consumer Frustration

(CBS)  After a summer of misery for air travelers, Congress said Wednesday it is ready to take action, outlining new measures to relieve congestion, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.

New York's John F. Kennedy airport is one of the largest airports in the country where 57 flights an hour are scheduled on a typical morning. However, the runways can only handle about 44, on a good day.

"The airport's making its money off of landing fees and take off fees and gate fees." says Peter Goelz, an aviation industry expert.

This deliberate overscheduling at JFK and other airports had members of Congress fighting mad.

"We're scheduling more planes to take off and land that can physically take off and land. We're allowing this to go forward we're saying the market will control it," said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore. "The market doesn't control it."

The nation's seven busiest airports now account for 72 percent of the nation's flight delays.

The government has imposed scheduling caps before. They're in place now at congested airports like New York's LaGuardia and Chicago's O'Hare. But the new acting FAA administrator said that would be a last resort.

This left members of Congress wondering what the administration was planning to do instead.

The government may give the airlines a chance to work it out on their own first. But they're all interested in adding flights, not taking them away.

[faahope]

et me gets this straight. It is CONGRESS who made the FAA cut back and it is Marion Blakey who obliged to do so. Now they are threatening the airlines to rearrange their schedules or "the government might enforce flight limits."

It didn''t mean anything to congress when the air traffic controllers told them 5 years ago, they were going to run into a problem of shortage of controllers, and that it would bring on massive delays. Congress doesn''t even care if a controller gets mistreated.

But the first time they are on a plane and have to be delayed they want to magically snap their fingers and have the problem solved.

I have a message for congress first say thank you to Congressman John Mica he was great, all those years in getting things cut back, privatized, consolidated, and making these delays possible and endangering lives. Say thank you to Marion Blakey for the support she gave on mistreating professionals and causing delays.

Congress I have another message. You and Marion created this mess but the air traffic controllers are professionals and will not take any chances. They still believe in their motto "SAFETY FIRST"