UPDATE: Aviation Lobbyists Want Air-Traffic Funds From Government
31 March 2009 - 9:31AM
Dow Jones News
Aviation advocates are aggressively lobbying Congress to supply
funding that will help airlines in revamping the U.S. air traffic
control system, but they decline to say how much the airline
industry would contribute to the aeronautic overhaul.
"It's premature to make any commitments one way or the other as
to exactly where the money is going to come from and in what
proportion," Air Transport Association President Jim May said.
The head of the trade group comprising the principal U.S.
airlines led a discussion on Monday with a small group of reporters
about the importance of the Obama administration, Congress and U.S.
airlines to begin updating the air traffic control system with
satellite-based technologies, known as "NextGen."
NextGen has been slated to cost $20 billion before wrapping up
in 2025, but advocates say roughly $10 billion is needed to
jump-start implementation of the technologies. May declined to say
how the costs would be divided between the public and private
sectors.
The shift from the current radar-based traffic control system
will need broad support across all invested parties, May said. He
added, however, that policy makers will need to first make
regulatory and procedural changes via the Federal Aviation
Administration that would help convince the airline industry that
"there's a practical business case for making such investments" as
NextGen.
The aviation backer said he's unsure how long it could take to
amend desired aviation regulations and standards in regard to
ground and air procedures.
Still, air traffic congestion on the ground is intertwined with
congestion in the air, said Greg Principato, president of the North
America division of the Airports Council International,
representing airports in the U.S. and abroad. "You can't fix one
without the other."
President Barack Obama recently said he would nominate Randy
Babbitt to head the FAA. Babbitt, 62 years old, served two terms as
head of the country's largest commercial-pilot union during the
1990s, before becoming an aviation industry consultant and serving
on various government panels.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said last week that
the next FAA head will be given the task of jump-starting the
development of NextGen, which he called the No. 1 priority of the
FAA.
NextGen supporters are hoping to receive the government's
financial assistance through any fiscal vehicle possible, such as
the creation of an aviation infrastructure bank, a second stimulus
package, or existing funds redirected by policy makers.
The Obama administration has previously rejected proposals to
have $4 billion in aid included in the president's $787 billion
economic stimulus package.
May and others in the aviation industry are also pushing for
lawmakers to pass a long-term budget for the FAA, which has
received several short-term funding extensions for its budget. The
latest is set to expire in September, prompting NextGen supporters
to ramp up their lobbying efforts.
The concept behind NextGen, which is similar to that of the
global-positioning technology used in some automobiles, relies on
transponder-equipped aircraft to communicate the aircraft's
position to controllers in real time, and to provide weather and
other information to pilots. NextGen is also slated to allow planes
to fly more closely together and use more direct routes.
Supporters of the system say it should pay for itself by
reducing flight delays and cutting fuel consumption and
emissions.
"I don't know why there's really a debate because we can all
quantify the costs of delay on our society, on our economy and on
our country's competitiveness," said Bill DeCota, aviation director
of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. DeCota also spoke
to reporters in Washington.
Principato, echoing DeCota, pointed to a congressional report
that found delays and congestion cost the national economy $41
billion. "In these days, we can't afford to throw away $41 billion
per year," he said.
-By Darrell A. Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6684;
darrell.hughes@dowjones.com