DOT 159-08
Contact: Brian Turmail, Tel.: (202) 366-4570
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
U.S. Transportation Secretary Peters Says New Airfare Data Shows Need for
Competition at Newly Capped Airports to Avoid Sharp Increases in Ticket Costs
New DOT Data Also Shows Almost Half of Delays at Chicago’s O’Hare
International Airport Can Be Linked Back to Record Airline Delays in New York
CHICAGO – New airfare data released today by the federal government underscores
the need to allow all airlines access to aviation markets, particularly where
local airports have hourly flight limits, known as caps, U.S. Secretary of
Transportation Mary E. Peters announced today.
“Even though caps can cut delays, they also eliminate competition, and without
competition, airfares rise,” Secretary Peters said. “Competition is the key to
lower fares, and slot auctions are the best way to get new airlines to serve New
York’s airports while caps are in place.”
The Secretary noted that while average domestic airfares in the second quarter
of 2008 are up 8 percent nationwide, fares at capped airports increased at a
faster rate. Most noticeably, the average airfare at Newark Liberty
International Airport grew at double that rate, up 16 percent, after caps were
put in place in May of this year.
Airfares at airports with histories of hourly flight caps, like O’Hare, JFK and
LaGuardia airports, also increased faster than the national average, Secretary
Peters added. Meanwhile, airfares declined by more than 25 percent in a single
year when a new airline began serving Philadelphia, demonstrating that
competition helps keep fares low, the Secretary said.
To address the lack of competition, the Department has issued rules to allow all
carriers access to New York’s three capped airports, where physical constraints
make it virtually impossible to add new runways. Secretary Peters noted the
hourly caps would be lifted at O’Hare by the end of October, thanks to the
city’s tireless efforts to expand capacity at the facility.
But she cautioned that new data by the Department’s Bureau of Transportation
Statistics (BTS) show how Chicago’s efforts to expand capacity were being
undermined by the record airline delays at New York’s airports. According to the
Bureau, fewer than half the flights between O’Hare and New York’s three airports
were on time, compared to almost 80 percent on time for all other flights.
“No amount of new concrete will help if your planes are stuck in New York,” the
Secretary said. “Chicago shouldn’t have to play second city to New York’s
aviation shortcomings.”
She said the Department also is working aggressively to reduce the record
airline delays at New York’s three airports. She noted the Department has put a
new air traffic czar in charge of the region’s airspace, is moving forward with
an ambitious redesign of airspace patterns in the northeast and is accelerating
the deployment of new aviation technology to the region.
She added that earlier this month, the Bush Administration committed almost $90
million to expand runway and taxiway capacity at JFK International Airport. She
said the Department is taking these aggressive steps because “New York’s
aviation challenges are just as much Chicago’s problems as they are every
traveler’s headache.”
To access the Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ Air Fare page, please visit
http://www.bts.gov/xml/atpi/src/index.xml.
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