Centerlines - September 2008 - (Page 41) COVER STORY ACI-NA and its members are “a family that advocates for competition, more and improved service, and function as the voice of the traveling public as well as its neighbors.” FAA Reauthorization One of the most important aviation issues in this Congress has been a multi-year Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill. The lack of progress on this reauthorization bill hampers the airlines and airports, he said. Action on the reauthorization measure, Oberstar stated, would “show the traveling public and the world aviation community that we are serious about investing in the future of aviation. We are prepared to make the investment in runway and taxiway improvements, air traffic control and the short-term action needed to resolve the gridlock between the air traffic controllers and the administration.” The prospects of a comprehensive, multi-year FAA bill enacted this year are not good. “The way the stars have been lining up in the Senate, the Senate will not move on reauthorization,” said Oberstar. By the end of September, “we will not be in a substantially better position in the Senate than we are today.” The House bill, passed in September 2007, provided a number of positive airport-related initiatives, including raising the Passenger Facility Charge cap to $7 as well as historic funding levels for the Airport Improvement Program— increases that ACI-NA played a critical role in securing. When looking back to the time that the PFC was created, Oberstar remarked that there was a severe lack of funding for airport infrastructure improvements such as new runways and taxiways, and ACI-NA rose to the occasion by working with Congress to “figure out a way to change this situation through the PFC.” He stating that ACI-NA and its members are “a family that advocates for competition, more and improved service, and function as the voice of the traveling public as well as its neighbors” on other issues in reauthorization bills such as noise control and pollution. Investing in Airport Infrastructure Oberstar and his committee have also been focusing on the FAA and its planning for a satellite-based navigation system, also known as NextGen. “The FAA is behind the curve. “I am very concerned about the proposed Delta-Northwest merger. I think it is the biggest threat to deregulation.” It should have long ago realigned the enroute system of 21 centers. The FAA is talking about NextGen, but they are not going to be ready for another 10 years. We need something much more immediate. We need more precision. We need the redundancy that we have always had stipulated in aviation. They ought to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time at the FAA.” In the wake of Congress’s inaction and the gridlock at some of the nation’s airports, DOT over the last year has proposed new rules and procedures it hopes will free up air space at the most congested airports. One of the proposals has been congestion pricing. Oberstar opposes the concept. “Congestion pricing is simply another way to raise the price to the advantage of deeper pockets and the disadvantage of smaller carriers. This administration wants to toll it, privatize it or sell it. The answer is to increase the capacity, not ration capacity that already exists.” Investing in airport infrastructure as part of Next Gen is important, he noted, because airports are economic engines in local economies. “Airports are most significant because they represent local and regional economic growth. Behind every airport is an entire array of jobs, economic opportunity, real people and businesses.” ■ www.aci-na.org | CENTERLINES 41 http://www.aci-na.org
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