DOT 180-08
Contact: Sarah Echols
Monday, Dec. 22, 2008
Tel.:(202) 366-4570
U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters Announces New Short-Term Effort to
Address Congestion and Delays at LaGuardia Airport
WASHINGTON – As part of the continued effort to address chronic congestion at
New York’s delay-prone LaGuardia airport, the U.S. DOT’s Federal Aviation
Administration will work with carriers to voluntarily reduce scheduled
operations there from 75 to an average of 71 per hour, U.S. Transportation
Secretary Mary E. Peters announced today.
“Too many flyers know that LaGuardia’s delays are the worst of the worst, and we
want to use every tool at our disposal to help passengers stuck with this
grueling congestion,” Secretary Peters said.
The Secretary said in 2007 and so far in 2008, LaGuardia ranked last among the
32 major U.S. airports in on-time arrival performance, with an arrival rate just
above 61 percent. The airport ranked just 28th for on-time departure performance
over the first 10 months of 2008. Recent data show that lowering the hourly cap
on operations from 75 to 71 could reduce delays by up to 41 percent, saving up
to $178 million in delay related costs per year.
Although the Administration’s proposal to inject fare-lowering competition via
auctions into the three New York airports was stayed by the court, the Secretary
said today’s action is a near-term step toward restoring reliable air service to
LaGuardia. “We are taking this short-term step because passengers deserve our
best efforts to fix the problem of New York aviation delays,” she said.
The Secretary said the Department is working to reduce delays and help consumers
– with the cap helping in the short term – but that any plan to promote airline
competition and help keep airfares low for consumers over the long haul must
include market-based solutions. Caps alone are not the long-term solution, she
said.
As part of its larger efforts, the Department has taken more than 30 different
actions to improve the flying experience in and out of New York – from opening
military airspace, increasing consumer protections, to implementing airspace
redesign and operational improvements.
Since the beginning of this year, the Department has completed 23 of the
operational improvements recommended by the Aviation Rulemaking Committee, she
said. These measures include adding an additional westbound departure route out
of New York area airports, adding escape routes during convective weather when
en route airspace is limited, and redesigning airspace to more efficiently move
airplanes.
The airlines and the public will have 10 days to comment on the proposal. Under
the proposal, the new lowered cap would take effect in April, 2009, and last
through Oct. 24. The Federal Register notice on the proposal is available for
review at
http://www.federalregister.gov/inspection.aspx#special
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