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Internet Travel Monitor - Events & Legislation
June 6, 2007
Smart Skies
President and CEO of the Air Transport Association James C. May Says Satellite-Based Air Traffic Control Will Benefit the Economy, Businesses, Passengers, and the Environment
GREENSBORO, NC – Making the U.S. air traffic–control system “smarter” will benefit many.
Tune in to Channel 9 on your inflight entertainment system and you will hear the live conversations between the pilots of dozens of airplanes (including your own) and the various air traffic–control (ATC) facilities.
Our U.S. ATC system is responsible for navigating flights from one city to the next. It also plays a key role, with the airlines and airports, in ensuring that you get to your destination on time. Like airports that are modernized to meet the growing and changing needs of our aviation industry, our present, ground-based ATC system must be replaced with a satellite-based system to meet these same demands.
If you travel frequently, you no doubt have been told at some point that your flight is being delayed because of air traffic–control issues.
Delays are frustrating for everyone and adversely affect the U.S. economy, business productivity, and the environment. In fact, it was estimated that in 2005 ATC-related delays cost the U.S. economy $15 billion. Delays also can lead to increased fuel burn while aircraft are waiting or being rerouted, which can harm the environment and industry profitability.
Eliminating delays and reducing aircraft emissions are among the goals of Smart Skies, the airline industry’s campaign for ATC reform. A satellite- based ATC system will reduce delays and enable aircraft to fly more direct, optimal routes; burn less fuel; and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the process.
In September, Congress will have a rare opportunity to address these issues when it considers legislation on the operation and funding of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It is vitally important that Congress not only set a course for rapid ATC transformation to a satellite-based system, but also provide a fair and robust funding structure to support it.
Modernizing how we finance our ATC system is Smart Skies’ other key goal. The basic structure that is used to fund and maintain the nation’s ATC system was designed in 1970. Since then, air traffic has changed. Corporate, noncommercial aviation has increased dramatically, and there are more aircraft relying on our ATC system.
While commercial airlines, such as United, now account for about 8,000 aircraft, private- and corporate-jet aircraft account for more than twice that number. Although corporate jets require the same ATC resources as large commercial airliners, the tax structure Congress put in place more than three decades ago does not distribute the costs of these resources equally.
For example, the passengers aboard a commercial Boeing 737 traveling between Chicago and New York may collectively pay $1,356 toward their use of the ATC system, but a smaller corporate jet may pay just $70 for the same services.
Recognizing the reality of our changed aviation landscape is long overdue. Fixing the ATC’s unfair funding system will help end commercial passengers’ subsidy of corporate jets and also will help the FAA build the next-generation ATC system that the current U.S. aviation environment requires.
An efficient, modern, satellite-based air transportation system will benefit the U.S. economy, businesses, passengers, and the global environment. It is time to build for our future. The Air Transport Association—the oldest and largest association of U.S. airlines—and all of our member airlines, including United, are working to do just that by supporting the Smart Skies campaign.
Copyright 2007 Hemispheres. All rights
reserved. From http://www.hemispheresmagazine.com. By James C. May.
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