September 26, 2007
The Honorable Mary Peters
Secretary
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave, SE
Washington, DC 20590
Re: Extended Delays
Dear Madam Secretary:
The Inspector General’s report on minimizing long, onboard flight delays contains several recommendations for actions by airlines, airports, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT). Work on some items has already begun, such as expanding the data reported to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) to better capture delay information associated with flight cancellations and diversions. I am pleased to report that the Air Transport Association has recommended specific changes to accomplish this.
We would like to meet with you and the FAA at your earliest convenience to discuss the Inspector General’s report, in particular the recommendation to reconvene the stakeholder task force to address contingency planning to deal with lengthy delays, and the recommendation to establish a collaborative process to review delay incidents, identify trends and find solutions for mitigating extraordinary flight disruptions. We believe these recommendations will deliver tangible benefits to the flying public and can be implemented in short order.
We look forward to working with you on these issues.