"Ban private jets at LaGuardia airport, demands Air Travelers group"

Friday, November 30, 2007

Ban private jets at LaGuardia airport, demands Air Travelers group 
BY PETER KADUSHIN
The New York (NY) Daily News


A lobbying group for airline passengers has submitted recommendations to ban
corporate jet flights from LaGuardia Airport to ease chronic congestion.

The Air Travelers Association urged the U.S. Transportation Department on
Wednesday to relieve the daunting delays at the notoriously busy airport by
curbing chartered private airliners and restricting connecting flights at
the busy Queens hub. 

"It would be better to serve 300 passengers on one flight than 15 on a
corporate jet," said David Stempler, president of the lobbying group. 

"LaGuardia is there to serve the people. We should serve the most number of
people, and not the most number of investment bankers," he said. 

The New York Aviation Rule Making Committee is expected to consider the
association's suggestions and report to federal transportation officials
next week as part of an effort to alleviate airline congestion. 

In the first seven months of this year, 25% of flights arriving at U.S.
airports were delayed by at least 15 minutes. The lowest number in recent
years was in 2003, when it was 16%, according to the Bureau of
Transportation Statistics. 

Getting rid of low-capacity flights would help turn those numbers around -
at least for LaGuardia, Stempler said. 

"There are two private flights an hour," said Stempler. "These corporate
jets have seats for as many as 20 people and sometimes only fly one person.
We could fly thousands if you swapped those slots with commercial
airliners." 

Airline delays made headlines after two incidents last winter, when
passengers on JetBlue and American flights were left sitting on the tarmac
for as long as 10 hours. 

The association also suggested stopping connecting flights from being routed
through LaGuardia. 

"People should use LaGuardia for coming in and going out of New York,"
Stempler said. "LaGuardia has 5% of traffic devoted to people making
connections. That space is too precious to add the demand from connecting
flights. 

"The real value of LaGuardia is that it is close to Manhattan," Stempler
added. "LaGuardia should primarily serve the people of this city, not people
trying to connect through our city."

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