Fact Sheet

Passenger and Public Benefits

The Next Generation Air Transportation System Financing Reform Act of 2007

Passengers will realize many benefits from our proposal. Passenger demand has returned to pre-9/11 levels and we project that U.S. commercial airlines will carry more than one billion passengers annually by 2015.

Benefits to passengers and the public include:

• Reduces congestion and alleviates passenger delays — The NextGen system will accommodate 2 to 3 times current traffic levels by shifting from 40-year-old ground-based, voice-driven technology to satellite-based, cockpit-to-cockpit enabled air traffic management. If we fail to achieve this system transformation by 2014 we estimate that there will be 29 days in which the number of delays would exceed the highest one-day total recorded in 2004. Also, estimates suggest Americans will lose $22 billion in annual economic activity by 2022.
• Reduces travel time — NextGen technologies like ADS-B will give pilots and air traffic controllers much more detailed information, allowing flights to go from point to point, all while maintaining the highest levels of safety.
• Provides tax relief — Our financing reform bill eliminates the domestic passenger ticket tax, the segment tax, and reduces the international arrival and departure tax by 50 percent. This change will significantly reduce the overall burden on airlines and the traveling public.
• Enhances safety — NextGen’s new technology and processes will provide additional safety features to extend the current safety record into the future.
• Reduces emissions and noise — Area Navigation (RNAV) arrival and departure procedures take advantage of NextGen’s satellite-based technologies and, as they expand across the system, will drastically reduce noise, emissions, and fuel usage. RNAV procedures at Atlanta are already saving airlines $34 million in fuel costs and we expect to deploy 50 additional RNAV procedures nationwide by the end of 2007.
• Improves water quality — A new environmental demonstration pilot program will fund de-icing and anti-icing technologies that will reduce the impact on water quality and facilitate safer and more efficient use of the system.