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Senator Seeks Head of FAA Chief

By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com

July 19, 2007

Charles Schumer (D-NY) says delays in the air traffic system, especially in the crowded New York corridor, are the result of a long-standing feud between the agency and the controllers it hires. And he blames FAA chief Marion Blakey for understaffing control towers.

"She has engaged in a counterproductive fight with air traffic controllers and cut the number of controllers that are needed. Sometimes, they lash back. It’s getting to the point where it’s intolerable," Schumer charged.

Citing figures that showed nearly four of every ten flights into the three major New York airports were late or cancelled in the first four months of this year, Schumer insists the government can take measures to stop delays.

But he says Blakey won’t do anything.

"(This problem) clearly falls in the lap of the FAA and FAA administrator," says the senior Senator from New York.

Even though passenger traffic fell by 3% from the first two months of last year to the first two months of this year, Schumer says delays at LaGuardia nearly tripled – from 13 to 35 per cent. Figures show that airport, along with John F. Kennedy International and Newark Library, are the nation’s three worst airports for delays. When things bog down in New York, says Schumer, that have a cascading effect across the country.

The FAA says it is trying to improve by offering alternate flight paths and adding computer software that can help controllers cope with weather problems.

But its bid to supersede outdated technology and reduce space between planes by using global positioning satellites has not been authorized by Congress, which must allocate billions of dollars for such projects.

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