Agencies detail plans to decrease aviation congestion

While Transportation Department and Federal Aviation Administration officials said Tuesday they were implementing new strategies to reduce air traffic congestion, an industry representative said Transportation was relying on unproven experiments.

At a Senate Commerce Aviation Subcommittee hearing, Air Transport Association Executive Vice President John Meenan said service reductions by major airlines will not result in fewer delays in major airports, especially in the New York region.

Three airports in the New York metropolitan area account for 45 percent of flight delays system-wide, according to the ATA, and Meenan was critical of FAA and Transportation's plans to auction airlines' flight slots and encourage airports to implement congestion pricing against airlines.

"The DOT seems intent on leaving a legacy of failed but costly experiments that "do nothing to reduce congestion and flight delays in New York or anywhere else," Meenan said.

Transportation has favored market-based solutions to reduce congestion, such as slot auctions and congestion pricing, while it views flight caps, which have been implemented in the New York area, as only part of the solution. Government Accountability Office Physical Infrastructures Director Susan Fleming said the department has not demonstrated how slot auctions will help reduce congestion and added that FAA and DOT efforts will have a "limited" effect on delays this summer.

FAA Air Traffic Organization COO Hank Krakowski pointed to other congestion reduction initiatives, such as increased routes over the Atlantic Ocean and new "playbook" routes for avoiding inclement weather, including the use of military airspace. He added that new and extended runways and airfield configurations will help expand flight capacity. All agreed that implementing the digital NextGen air traffic control system and implementing new satellite technology nationwide by 2013 is an important goal.

Subcommittee members also used the hearing to sound off against oil speculation and the effect it is having on the industry. Meenan said the industry was being "decimated" by a $20 billion increase in fuel expenses compared to 2007, and as airlines restructure and slash service, higher fares can be expected.

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said he supported legislation criminalizing oil speculation. Aviation Subcommittee Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller, D-W.Va., was concerned that states like his with smaller airports would feel the brunt of the airline's service cuts.