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Feds Appoint Air Traffic Czar To Fix NYC Delays

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Apr 8, 2008 9:44 pm US/Eastern

Feds Appoint Air Traffic Czar To Fix NYC Delays

Kennington-Gardiner's Job Will Be To Improve U.S. Air Travel By Fixing JFK, LaGuardia & Newark First

Reporting
Lou Young
NEW YORK (CBS) ― If you are tired of delayed or even canceled flights every time you fly, you may be in for some relief. The feds have appointed an air traffic czar for New York. Her mission is to dramatically cut delays. But can she do it?

The air over New York is so thick with flights the entire country suffers, as do the poor souls trapped in the aluminum tubes aloft. Marie Kennington-Gardiner has been told to help unsnarl the mess.

Kennington-Gardiner was named director of the Federal Aviation Administration's New York Integration Office, a new title designed to help solve the chronic delays at the three major metro area airports: John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia, and Newark-Liberty.

Delays at the three airports often cause cascading delays across the country, and last year the United States saw some of the worst overall backups on record.

Kennington-Gardiner, of Staten Island, had recently worked as director of the Lower Manhattan Recovery Office, overseeing federal dollars for rebuilding transit systems in the wake of the 2001 terror attacks. She has also held management positions at FAA offices along the East Coast.

Weary business travelers who come here a lot are ready to roll out the red carpet.

"I think they definitely need it. "(They need to) do something," said Ray Tesi of San Francisco.

"All the flights? Let's hope, let's hope," said Ted Sulger of Chicago.

Senator Chuck Schumer asked for the position in the fall. He told CBS 2 HD from Washington on Tuesday that it's worked elsewhere.

"Miami had backups about two years ago and they appointed an air czar and the backups were greatly reduced in two or three months," Schumer said.

He said Kennington-Gardiner "appears to be a strong choice," but added: "Much more needs to be done before New Yorkers receive adequate air service."

The proof, though, will be in the performance. Will the air czar have real authority to override the other federal agencies? Passengers hope so.

"When should she start?" one woman asked. "Yesterday."

(© 2009 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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.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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