Peak Hour Pricing Discriminatory

While much that has been written about the administration’s recent proposal to impose peak hour pricing at congested airports has centered on the airline industry, the general aviation community is equally exercised at the prospect of new landing fees based on time of day rather than the weight of aircraft. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association called congestion pricing discriminatory in pledging to fight any proposals that would discriminate against general aviation. AOPA also noted that congestion pricing was not endorsed by the recent Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) formed to deal with New York’s congested airspace.
“Many members of the working group expressed strong concerns about the application of congestion pricing or auctions as a primary method to allocate airport capacity at New York airports,” said ARC leaders in a Dec. 13 letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, who immediately turned around to reject the admonitions of its own committee. “There was concern that a congestion pricing or auction system would cause disruption to the market and may not be effective in moving flights out of peak times.”
The department published the 188-page report from Aviation Rulemaking Committee in December which came on the heels of nearly 100 recommendations made by a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANY&NJ) task force. More importantly, said AOPA, general aviation is not the cause of the problem in New York and it should not be forced to pay a penalty. AOPA indicated the general aviation accounts for less than two percent of the total operations at JFK, for example.
One of the more interesting observations concerning market-based solutions, came from Working Group 2 of the ARC which noted that organizations that control airport and airspace access are both monopolies and, therefore, are themselves not market-based. For this reason, pricing of airport or airspace access as proposed would operate as a government tax, rather than a market price between two private entities. In addition, the group noted there were no viable reliever airports in the region for those who cannot afford to serve JFK under a pricing option or those who do not need to connect, which is a limited number of flights.
LaGuardia, JFK and Newark, joined by the PANY&NJ and airline executives, known as the PA&NYNJ Flight Delay Task Force actually made 100 recommendations which also rejected peak or congestion pricing or auctions. Part of the solution would be quicker action to get aircraft off runways sooner and more efficient routing in the heavy NY-Washington corridor. The task force also wants accelerated deployment of NextGen technology already in use at other airports. That means increased funding which is also required for lengthening and reconfiguring taxiways to offload aircraft from runways more quickly.

Playing to Peoria
December’s announcement setting caps at Kennedy and Newark airports and calling for a capacity Czar to address delay problems makes it sound as if the government is really working on stemming the delays that have plagued the system for over a year. While these efforts, as well as the new landing fee policy, are unlikely to make a substantial difference, such initiatives make for good press.
The DOT’s new landing fee policy can be imposed after a 45-day comment period. Even so, all the political window dressing in the world will not make up for the collective failure of DOT, the Federal Aviation Administration and Congress to address the root cause of delays – an antiquated air traffic control system. Without that, all the fixes proposed by DOT and the recent Aviation Rulemaking Committee are but Band Aids applied to a hemorrhage.
The proposed policy change, allowing higher fees based on time of day was called “nothing more than congestion pricing disguised as an airport fee” said the Air Transport Association. Indeed, congestion pricing has long been roundly condemned as ineffective.
In addition to condemning the practice, industry said the plan did nothing to increase capacity, something mentioned in most dispatches released by industry groups, including the Port of New York and New Jersey. In addition, the Air Transport Association said the only thing the new policy will accomplish will drive up costs.
Airports Council International – North America welcomed the fee change, however, saying "airport proprietors are in the best position to manage the use of the facilities they planned, financed, built and currently operate." However, analysts suggest that it introduces competition among airports as smaller airports refuse to match any fee hikes at larger airports.
Once completed, the new policy, would also allow fees to be distributed throughout an airport authority’s airfields, meaning fees from JFK could be used at under-used airports such as Stewart, with the hopes of increasing use of these facilities. In addition, FAA’s proposed Policy on Airport Rates and Charges, allows airport to use them for current airport projects rather than waiting for such projects to be completed before factoring them into fees.
The International Air Transport Association condemned the change saying it would eliminate the current market-based system for judging the necessity of airport projects which now require airports to convince the financial community the project is needed.

O’Hare Caps to be Lifted
In separate, but related, news, the FAA confirmed limitations imposed on Chicago O’Hare will be allowed to expire on schedule October 31, some 20 days before a new north runway there opens, according to officials marking the opening of a new Air Traffic Control tower at the airport. Last fall, the FAA said caps would remain, but after any angry response by city officials, reversed itself. The caps, imposed in 2004 at 88 arrivals per hour compared to the 120 before the caps, have had little impact on delays given the fact that O’Hare was ranked at the bottom of 32 airports for on-time departures and at 28 for on-time arrivals. The new north runway is designed to accommodate an additional 52,000 operations.