Jul 17, 2007 6:37 pm US/Eastern
Schumer: FAA Chief Should Resign Over Air Delays
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) ―
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As more travelers find themselves waiting -- and waiting -- in airports this summer, Sen. Charles Schumer said Tuesday that the head of the nation's aviation agency should get the ax.
AP
As more travelers find themselves waiting -- and waiting -- in airports this summer, Sen. Charles Schumer said Tuesday that the head of the nation's aviation agency should get the ax.
Federal Aviation Administration chief Marion Blakey came under fire from the senator over seemingly constant backups at New York City's major airports, which cause cascading delays across the country.
"It falls clearly in the lap of the FAA and the FAA administrator," said Schumer, D-N.Y.
The senator faulted Blakey for what he said was a destructive feud with the nation's air traffic controllers. He said the controllers' decades-long poor relationship with the government has gotten even worse under Blakey.
"She has engaged in a counterproductive fight with the air traffic controllers, cut the number of controllers that are needed, and they sometimes lash back," said the senator.
The FAA released a lengthy statement responding to Schumer's charges Tuesday:
"It appears Senator Schumer is working with an inaccurate fact set. We have offered to brief the Senator, but it is important to recognize that the New York area is the most congested airspace in the country. We have taken aggressive action to address delays and enhance safety throughout the region.
"For example, we have developed a redesign of the region's airspace that will reduce delays by 20 percent, as well as a number of shorter term initiatives to better manage growing levels of air traffic at major airports like JFK. We have proposed enhancements to the way LaGuardia is managed to maximize the number of passengers moving through the airport, and we are working to improve operations at Newark as well. Air traffic controller staffing levels at New York area facilities are all within the authorized staffing ranges included in our comprehensive Controller Workforce Plan, which has received strong support from members of Congress, and we continue to attract new controllers at a rapid pace.
"Longer term solutions to New York's growing congestion problems lie in the transition to a Next Generation air transportation system. But successfully completing that kind of technology transformation depends largely on congressional approval of a reformed financing system for the FAA that better ties costs to revenues and dedicates funding to major capital projects. The FAA's taxes expire September 30, so travelers around the country – and especially in New York – simply cannot afford to wait."
The problem is particularly acute at the three major airports in the New York City area. Between January and April, 38 percent of all flights at Newark Liberty, John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports were either late or canceled, leading to disruptions nationwide.
In some cases, the delays seem to come without any weather- or crowd-related reason. At LaGuardia Airport between January and February, total passenger traffic dropped 3 percent compared to the same period a year ago, but delays still jumped 13 percent.
Schumer argued that in the heavily regulated airline industry, it's up to the government to step in and enforce changes to reduce delays, and Blakey has refused to do so.
"It's getting to the point where it's intolerable," Schumer said.
Earlier this month, the leading U.S. airlines urged the FAA to impose delays on corporate and private jets in New York to help relieve the congestion surrounding the Fourth of July holiday -- though advocates for the private fliers insist they are not contributing to the crowded commercial skies or getting any special treatment from the government.
FAA officials say they are taking a number of steps to reduce delays in the New York area, including redesigning flight routes and adding new software to help respond to bad weather.
The agency also wants Congress to pay for a multibillion-dollar upgrade of the nation's air traffic control system, which still uses analog radar technology from the 1950's. Proponents of the upgrade say new, global positioning satellites could more accurately coordinate traffic and allow aircraft to fly closer together.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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