Congressman Calls For Blakey's Resignation

Senator Schumer is notorious for his aggressive attempts to gain media
coverage. This latest shot across the bow of FAA administrator
Blakey, due to leave office in two months, appears to be another
meritless attempt to make headlines. Clearly his allegations are
accurate, but how calling for Blakey's resignation would remediate the
damage she's caused is not apparent.



SCHUMER: FAA'S BLAKEY SHOULD RESIGN
(http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#195661)
The nation's airspace system is a mess, with airports overloaded
and travelers plagued by delays, and that's the fault of FAA
Administrator Marion Blakey, says New York Sen. Charles Schumer,
D-N.Y. On Tuesday he called for Blakey to resign before her term
ends on Sept. 30, The Associated Press () reports. "She has
engaged in a counterproductive fight with the air traffic
controllers, cut the number of controllers that are needed, and
they sometimes lash back," Schumer said. Delays have been
particularly bad at New York's three major airports --
Newark, Kennedy and LaGuardia -- with 38 percent of all flights
from January to April this year either late or canceled, according
to the AP. The blame "falls clearly in the lap of the FAA and the
FAA administrator," said Schumer. "The leadership at the FAA time
and again has failed. So now it is time for that leadership to
change."
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#195661



http://www.boston.com/business/artic...ief_should_go/
"She has engaged in a counterproductive fight with the air traffic
controllers, cut the number of controllers that are needed, and
they sometimes lash back," said the senator.

An FAA spokeswoman did not immediately comment.

The problem is particularly acute at the three major airports in
the New York City area. Between January and April, 38 percent of
all flights at Newark Liberty, John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia
airports were either late or canceled, leading to disruptions
nationwide.

In some cases, the delays seem to come without any weather- or
crowd-related reason. At LaGuardia Airport between January and
February, total passenger traffic dropped 3 percent compared to
the same period a year ago, but delays still jumped 13 percent.

Schumer argued that in the heavily regulated airline industry,
it's up to the government to step in and enforce changes to reduce
delays, and Blakey has refused to do so.

"It's getting to the point where it's intolerable," Schumer said.

Earlier this month, the leading U.S. airlines urged the FAA to
impose delays on corporate and private jets in New York to help
relieve the congestion surrounding the Fourth of July holiday --
though advocates for the private fliers insist they are not
contributing to the crowded commercial skies or getting any
special treatment from the government.

FAA officials say they are taking a number of steps to reduce
delays in the New York area, including redesigning flight routes
and adding new software to help respond to bad weather.




http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2007/0...re-for-blakey/
But Blakey already has one foot out the door: Her term expires in
September and she has no intention of pushing for a second
go-round. At a hearing last week, Blakey, a former director of the
National Transportation Safety Board, reiterated that she is a
“one-term administrator” and is eager to pursue other
opportunities.

A Schumer spokesman today said the bigger concern is that Blakey
will continue to serve until she’s replaced, which could run
through the end of the Bush administration given the current state
of relations between the White House and Congress.

Schumer is irked with the sharp increase in flight delays and
cancellations in the New York area and several side issues — most
notably the FAA’s ongoing labor spat with air traffic controllers
— that is slowing the rollout of new technologies that could begin
to ease headaches for travelers and airlines. Schumer in part
blamed significant shortages of air traffic controllers at JFK,
Newark and LaGuardia airports. Blakey disputed the numbers, saying
staffing is adequate.

Replacing Blakey is another item on the Bush administration’s FAA
to-do list. It also wants to overhaul the system of user fees and
taxes so corporate jets will pay more — and major airlines
relatively less — to fund a satellite-based air traffic control
system.



BLAKEY COUNTERS WITH A PLUG FOR USER FEES:
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_198113612.html
The FAA released a lengthy statement responding to Schumer's
charges Tuesday:

"It appears Senator Schumer is working with an inaccurate fact
set. We have offered to brief the Senator, but it is important to
recognize that the New York area is the most congested airspace in
the country. We have taken aggressive action to address delays and
enhance safety throughout the region.

"For example, we have developed a redesign of the region's
airspace that will reduce delays by 20 percent, as well as a
number of shorter term initiatives to better manage growing levels
of air traffic at major airports like JFK. We have proposed
enhancements to the way LaGuardia is managed to maximize the
number of passengers moving through the airport, and we are
working to improve operations at Newark as well. Air traffic
controller staffing levels at New York area facilities are all
within the authorized staffing ranges included in our
comprehensive Controller Workforce Plan, which has received strong
support from members of Congress, and we continue to attract new
controllers at a rapid pace.

"Longer term solutions to New York's growing congestion problems
lie in the transition to a Next Generation air transportation
system. But successfully completing that kind of technology
transformation depends largely on congressional approval of a
reformed financing system for the FAA that better ties costs to
revenues and dedicates funding to major capital projects. The
FAA's taxes expire September 30, so travelers around the country –
and especially in New York – simply cannot afford to wait."



http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?se...cal&id=5481311
When questioned by Schumer during a Senate hearing last week, he
says she failed to provide any answers as to why the system has
become so clogged or acknowledge that near misses at New York City
airports were even a real problem.

"The leadership at the FAA time and again has failed New Yorkers,"
Schumer said. "So now it is time for that leadership to change.
The FAA has single-handedly created a crisis in the skies over New
York and done next to nothing to correct it. Not only are the
skies more congested and tangled than ever, but the number of near
misses on the runways has raised serious questions about overall
safety. We need an FAA that works to fix these problems, not
ignore them."

Schumer has repeatedly called on the FAA to upgrade technology at
New York's airports, come to the table with the air traffic
controllers' union to settle their differences and fast track
their airspace redesign plan. He says none of these goals have
been accomplished, with the FAA reporting far too little progress
on any of them. He says the bitterness between controllers and the
FAA has spiked, creating tension and distractions in the control
towers. He says the towers and control centers are dangerously
understaffed and controllers are still using 1970's technology.

"If the FAA tomorrow were to put the adequate number of people in
the control towers, the delays would decrease immediately,"
Schumer said.

Schumer said that the fact that roughly one out of every three
flights in and out of the New York area airports are delayed or
cancelled threatens to cut off the economic artery of the entire
city. Airlines are often quick to blame weather for delays, but
critics say that doesn't begin to explain it.

"We did a little survey and compared one month at LaGuardia this
year to last year," Schumer said. "Traffic was 3 percent lower
this year. The weather was better this year than last year, and
delays were up 30 percent. That tells you something is rotten."

More than 100 million travelers pass through the airports every
year, and Schumer says New York simply cannot afford to have these
airports not function properly.

Along with growing congestion and skyrocketing flight delays,
Schumer said that recent reported near misses and runway
incursions at La Guardia and Newark airports show that the FAA's
efforts to manage the traffic in New York safely has been totally
ineffective.

In addition, he says the FAA's proposal to limit the number of
flights in and out of LaGuardia in order to curb increasing delays
has been met with total opposition. The plan, he says, would do
nothing to reduce the crippling congestion at LaGuardia. Instead,
Schumer believes it furthers Blakey's ideological mission of
privatization and supporting business over the public good,
instead of sound policy.



While I don't disagree with Schumer's criticism of Blakey, Schumer
might consider acknowledging some personal responsibility for the
flight delay issues he cites by advocating the construction of more
runways and increasing the capacity of the airports he mentioned.