Print
Aug 27, 2008 7:57 am US/Eastern
War Of Words Heats Up Between FAA & Port Authority
Stakes Are High For Passengers Caught In Middle Of Bureaucratic Beef
Reporting
Jay Dow
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Things are getting back to normal at the country's airports Wednesday morning, but it was quite a different story yesterday.
Federal officials are blaming a software problem for air traffic troubles and widespread delays, especially in the Northeast.
It's just one of the many issues that weary air travelers are facing these days.
The war of words is heating up between the FAA and the Port Authority and the stakes couldn't be higher for passengers caught in the middle of this bureaucratic beef.
The FAA argues that in the interest of boosting competition, the Port Authority must not block access to airlines that win the auctioned landing slots at Newark Liberty and other busy airports. The newly acquired slots became available when the feds imposed flight caps earlier this year. The FAA says it's even willing to cut off $27 million in annual grants to the Port Authority if it doesn't stick with the game plan.
But the Port Authority fired back by filing a motion in federal appeals court to kill the FAA's auction plan, arguing it would result in higher costs for airlines, higher ticket prices, and fewer regional flights to and from small communities. All this comes during an increasingly turbulent period in the aviation industry.
On Tuesday, a software glitch at one of the FAA's processing facilities in Georgia caused massive delays all over the east coast.
An FAA Web site that posts airport status information showed delays at some three dozen major airports coast-to-coast, advising passengers to "check your departure airport to see if your flight may be affected."
At the three major New York City-area airports, depature delays averaged between 30 minutes and just over an hour.
"It has shaken my confidence. What would that be, why would that be happening?" said Bernita King, a traveler at LaGuardia Airport. "The infrastructure needs to be revitalized."
And on the west coast there was more bad news. Perennial success story Southwest Airlines, which is the only airline to post a profit this year, just announced it will join several other major airlines and cut nearly 200 hundred flights as a result of increasing fuel costs and a sagging economy.
Through the years, Southwest has remained constant, not having posted a quarterly loss since 1991. Surely when the airline industry's most solid participant shows vulnerability, it's a sign of things to come.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
WCBSTV.com's Most Popular Pages
