Congestion Fee Is Introduced To Curb Delays At U.S. Airports
Dan Caterinicchia, AP, Washington Post, 1/15/2008
Congested airports nationwide could charge landing fees based on the time flights arrive and traffic volume instead of on the plane's weight, according to a federal policy proposed yesterday.
Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said the policy would make it easier for airports to reduce delays by encouraging airlines to spread their flights more evenly throughout the day. The proposed landing fee policy will be open to public comment for 45 days before it is finalized.
Some analysts say that although the new fees would encourage competition among airports, consumers ultimately would pay the bill.
Airline arrival rates through November were the second-worst since comparable data began being collected in 1995, the Transportation Department said this month. The new policy would encourage congested airports in New York and elsewhere to include the cost of projects designed to expand capacity in the new landing fees now instead of after construction has been completed, Peters said.
The policy also would allow operators of multiple airports, such as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, to distribute landing-fee revenue among facilities, she said.
The Port Authority, which runs John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, said the new policy would be a minor fix for a major problem. Through November, those three airports had the lowest on-time arrival rates in the country, and aviation officials say delays there cascade throughout the system, causing 75 percent of U.S. flight delays.
"It's good the [Federal Aviation Administration] is focusing on the delays issue, but these small steps don't address the fundamental problem when dramatic action is needed," the Port Authority said. "The right solution is expanding capacity through 21st century technologies, working with the airlines on more rational schedules and better customer service."
The Air Transport Association, which represents the nation's largest airlines, cast the policy as "congestion pricing disguised as an airport fee," and echoed the call for a more comprehensive fix.
"Unfortunately, [the policy] does nothing to fix the primary cause of delays -- our nation's increasingly antiquated air traffic control system," ATA President Jim May said in a statement. "Additional fees . . . will only increase the cost of flying for the consumer."
The association representing airport owners and operators welcomed the change, however, lauding Peters for recognizing that "airport proprietors are in the best position to manage the use of the facilities they planned, financed, built and currently operate," Gregory O. Principato, president of Airports Council International-North America, said in a news release.
Consumers flying at peak travel times should not be singled out just because the airports are charging airlines more for their flights, but all travelers are likely to see ticket prices rise as carriers distribute the additional cost, said Terry Trippler, a Minneapolis air-travel consultant. Still, he welcomed the new policy.
"The best part about this is that it opens up competition among airports," Trippler said, adding that airports in Memphis or Philadelphia who see their counterparts in Atlanta or New York raising landing fees may opt not to follow suit as a way to attract more business. "That's what we want and that's what we need."