"Schumer: Federal airport plan would cause 'gridlock'"

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Schumer: Federal airport plan would cause 'gridlock'
BY GLENN THRUSH
Newsday (NY)


Sen. Charles Schumer is attacking the Bush administration's plan to auction
off flight slots at three overcrowded New York-area airports, saying the
proposal would cause aerial "gridlock."

Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration announced it would require
airlines to bid for some of their current flights at Kennedy, LaGuardia and
Newark airports. 

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, who oversees the FAA, plans to
hold auctions for between 10 percent and 20 percent of slots by year's end.
The new process, Peters claims, would raise revenue to pay for improvements
to air traffic systems.

Schumer - who dubbed the air safety agency "the new FEMA" - blamed delays on
aging air traffic technology and the agency's failure to retain veteran air
traffic controllers. 

"Instead of focusing on real, tested solutions to solve this problem, like
upgrading decades old technology and hiring an adequate number of
controllers to staff New York's towers, the DOT continues to miss the
point," Schumer told a House committee examining the plan yesterday.

"Within the next five years the New York City airspace will be in total
gridlock," he predicted. 

D.J. Gribbin, DOT's general counsel, said the slot auctions would only
include a small number of flights. "The vast majority of hourly operations
at the airport, as much as 90 percent or more, would be 'grandfathered' and
leased to the existing operators," he said. 

New York's airports are among the most delayed in the nation. LaGuardia is
worst, with 44 percent of its flight delayed in the past year. Long Island
MacArthur Airport in Islip is the best, with an 82 percent on-time rating.

Schumer is using his legislative muscle to pressure administration officials
to drop the auctions, placing a hold on the permanent appointment of acting
FAA administrator Robert Sturgell. Speaking to reporters after yesterday's
hearing, Schumer said he had "broad support" for a bill to stop the auctions
but wouldn't predict the outcome.

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