NEWS RELEASE
WASHINGTON, July 2, 2007 – The Air Transport Association (ATA), the trade association for the leading U.S. airlines, has called on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to temporarily create additional airspace capacity by imposing proportional level ground delay programs at Teterboro Airport (TEB) and other nearby airports when FAA imposes ground delay programs at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), LaGuardia International Airport (LGA) and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).
“The New York City metropolitan-area airspace is completely saturated and near gridlock,” said ATA President and CEO James C. May, stating that commercial airlines already are being forced to cancel hundreds of flights and inconvenience thousands of travelers due to air traffic control (ATC) constraints and strong summer thunderstorm activity. “More than one-third of all air traffic delays in the country on June 28 were in congested New York airspace.”
Since corporate jet flights now represent roughly 30 percent of all New York Terminal Radar Approach Control activity, ATA has asked the FAA to impose restrictions on operators that today may be unaffected by ground delay programs.
ATA also asked the FAA to accelerate ATC modernization and airspace redesign around New York City, noting that congestion is likely to worsen as the system deteriorates further.
ATA members and their affiliates transport more than 90 percent of all U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic.
###