FAA Plan to Reroute Planes Over South Jersey is a Colossal Mistake

Last week I met with FAA Administrator Marion Blakey along with Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar and Rep. Joe Sestak to discuss the FAA’s airspace redesign plan.  As you may know, in order to reduce delays at Philadelphia International Airport, the FAA has proposed a plan that would direct planes taking off or landing at the airport to fly at low altitudes over our neighborhoods in South Jersey (see related story here).  In my meeting with Administrator Blakey, I asked for a cost-benefit analysis of the plan, and was shocked to hear that the FAA simply “does not know” how much it will cost.  Additionally, under the most optimistic conditions a 22-minute delay at the airport will only be reduced by 4 minutes.  I am absolutely convinced that this project is a colossal mistake.

I have included below a recent article in the Gloucester County Times on my meeting with FAA Administrator Blakey and Congressmen Oberstar and Sestak.

Andrews: Airport plan a big mistake
Gloucester County Times
Saturday, April 21, 2007
By Jonathan Vit

The Federal Aviation Administration has not made a believer of U.S. Rep. Rob
Andrews.

Six years and $50 million into their controversial airspace redesign
project, FAA officials recently met with Andrews, D-1st Dist., of Haddon
Heights, and Pennsylvania congressman Joe Sestak to discuss the specifics of
their plan.

"After hearing from (FAA) Administrator (Marion Clifton) Blakey, I am
absolutely more convinced than ever that this airspace redesign is a
colossal mistake," Andrews said. "The most telling part of the briefing was
when I asked about how much it was going to cost.

"The answer was astounding We don't know.' "

FAA officials say that the purpose of the airspace redesign is to rethink
the way planes travel to and from airports within the Northeast region.

In an effort to prevent future delays at the increasingly busy Philadelphia
International Airport, the FAA has released a plan to use satellite
technology to reduce congestion and save six minutes in average flight
delays.

According to the FAA Web site, each flight leaving Philadelphia
International is delayed by an average of 15 minutes.

With a single minute's delay costing not only time but money for both
passengers and the industry, FAA officials predict that this improvement
would provide substantial cost savings, as well.

"The FAA has proposed the idea that there would be a significant saving of
delays," Andrews explained. "Even under the most optimistic renditions of
reductions to flight delays, it is only four minutes on a 22-minute delay."

Adding that 81 percent of delays are caused by the weather, Andrews sees
little worth in the FAA's redesign project.

"Unless the FAA has a magical formula to change the weather, it is not going
to make any difference," he said. "Four minutes is a very, very minor change
in flight delays for how much is it going to cost us."

FAA officials would not comment specifically on Andrews' criticism of the
proposal, saying only that ample time will be available for public comment
during each of five scheduled noise mitigation hearings.

The FAA is set to conclude a review of the plan's potential environmental
impact by June, according to Andrews.

Both Andrews and Sestak said they intend to make their concerns heard before
then.

"This is like going to buy a house and asking the builder of the house, How
much is it going to cost?' and having the builder say, I don't know,'"
Andrews said. "Well, I am not buying that house and, similarly, we won't buy
this plan."

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