Congestion Pricing Won’t Fly

The National Air Transportation Association joined a growing chorus opposing congestion pricing schemes proposed recently by the Department of Transportation. Adding to the strong opposition voiced by the Regional Airline Association (RAA) recently, airlines may sue to stop the Department of Transportation-proposed congestion pricing schemes at busy airports. Related Story
“Although the proposed amendments are intended to provide greater flexibility to operators of congested airports and to encourage the use of alternative airports to meet regional air service needs, NATA is opposed to any change in airport rates”, said NATA.
NATA is largely concerned that any changes will come at the expense of the non-airline user. “The on-demand operators certificated under Part 135 and private aircraft operations under Part 91 will be disproportionately affected by such changes and deterred from airports with heavy traffic,” said the organization in its recent comment filed against the proposal. “In the case of air charter operations, by regulation, aircraft are prohibited from carrying more than 30 passengers, so the burden of increased fees is carried by fewer passengers.”
It also said that congestion pricing will not force large commercial air carriers operating under Part 121 to change their flight schedules. “Ultimately, the charges per passenger on the airlines will not be significant enough to dissuade any passenger from flying at a particular time or convince an airline to reduce operational levels,” said NATA, which also objected to the pricing regime because it was a short-term fix to a long-term problem. It echoed other organization saying that the real focus should be on modernization of the National Airspace System (NAS). “NATA believes the FAA should concentrate on runway expansions and other airport improvements to aid traffic flow at the most congested airports. Runway construction has been the means of increasing capacity for many years. We feel that improving and expanding the infrastructure is the best solution to alleviate crowded airports.”
The organization also said that modernization is critical to easing airport traffic and pointed out that the on-demand air charter industry, including those companies operating technologically advanced aircraft, such as very light jets, is committed to supporting the vision for transformation of the NAS led by the U.S. Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO). (See related story this issue)
The Air Transport Association questioned DOT’s authority in setting congestion fees and said in a recent letter to DOT Secretary Mary Peters, that they are “legally indefensible.” The comment period ended last week amid stiff opposition to the fees that were to be unilaterally imposed last month but were delayed to give airlines a chance to comment. The industry has said with one voice that the problem is not so much congestion as the FAA’s failure to accommodate by long-awaiting capacity increases promised under modernization.
Business, general and regional airline interests also oppose the $25 user fee proposed as part of FAA reauthorization. The Regional Airline Association noted that congested airports such as JFK have already lost much of their small community air service and cutting them further would serve no purpose since it is the narrow-bodies and over-saturation in such leisure markets as Florida that is the cause of the problem.