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American Morning
Travel Trouble
Aired November 27, 2002 - 07:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Heavy snow is snarling travel today for some travelers around the country, and they are trying to get out of town on what is traditionally the busiest travel day of the year.
Joining us now from the Federal Aviation Administration command center in Herndon, Virginia is FAA Administrator Marion Blakey.
Good morning.
MARION BLAKEY, FAA ADMINISTRATOR: Good morning. How are you?
COSTELLO: I'm fine. Tell us what this command center is, first of all.
BLAKEY: It's a pretty exciting place, because it really is, if you will, the nerve center for air traffic control for all over the country. What we have here on the screens behind us, for example, are all of the flights that are currently in the air. We have a system of tracking what's happening on the runways, what's happening in terms of de-icing at airports all over the country, and all of the weather.
And so, what we're able to do here is pull everyone together -- all of the airlines, our towers, et cetera -- and talk about how we're going to manage the flow. And so far today, it's going very smoothly.
COSTELLO: Oh, that's good, because we were expecting far less. Where are the potential trouble spots from the information you've collected so far?
BLAKEY: Well, as we're looking on the weather maps here, we're seeing the storm that was projected to affect the northeast moving out pretty fast. A little bit of bad weather still at LaGuardia. Boston Logan is still de-icing. But it looks like that storm is going to move through, and so far, there are no significant delays. Could pick up some wind this afternoon at LaGuardia also, which again, might cause a few.
So, we're urging that passengers get to the airports early and be patient. I think that's the key thing for today.
COSTELLO: You're not kidding. We're looking at pictures from LaGuardia Airport. Those pictures taken from this morning. The airports are already packed.
BLAKEY: Yes.
COSTELLO: How many people do you expect to fly today? BLAKEY: Well, you know, we're expecting probably there will be about 50,000 commercial flights today, and those flights are going to be 90 plus percent full. As you know, the airline industry is in deep financial trouble now, and so they have to be efficient. They have to load up every plane, and they'll do so.
The good news is that traffic and the numbers of passengers is up from last year. So, we should expect the terminals to be pretty full. The number of planes is going to be about the same traffic we've been managing all week, so the skies will be steady state (ph).
COSTELLO: So, there will be more people on the planes, but less planes in the air, which is maybe a good thing...
BLAKEY: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... for getting out of the airport on time. Federal workers have taken over at airports across the country. How is that going?
BLAKEY: It's remarkable. We've got 44,000 trained and ready federal screeners out there. The new Transportation Security Administration has really done a terrific job, and those folks really are ready for this holiday. But I think people have to remember, too, that they need our help. They're new on the job to begin with, so let's cut them a little slack, because this is the toughest holiday period of the year.
And we need to do our job in terms of arriving at the terminal with all of the metal objects we can -- our jewelry, telephones and all that. Put them in the carry-on. Don't have to unload it right there when you get to the screening point.
COSTELLO: Right, when you have metal on your belts, take them off.
(CROSSTALK)
BLAKEY: ... things like heavy packages (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
COSTELLO: Right.
BLAKEY: Yes, exactly. Try not to wear those metal shank shoes today. You know, put them in your checked baggage. There are a few things like that that can speed it up for everybody.
COSTELLO: OK, before you go, I do want to ask you about this fuel pump problem on Boeing jets. It sounds pretty scary. They may overheat. The FAA has ordered planes to carry extra fuel. Should we worry about that?
BLAKEY: Well, remember, it is just a specific part of the 747 fleet -- the 747-400s. The issue of igniting fuel in the fuel tanks we've worried about for a long time. And in point of fact, we've been monitoring. And we do know that as long as this extra fuel covering any source of ignition, there will not be an explosion. So, again, a small part of the fleet out there.
And the problem is being addressed. Ultimately, though, we want to fix it, so there's no issue of ignition, there's no issue that there ever could be an explosion.
COSTELLO: I think many passengers...
BLAKEY: And we've got some work we're doing on that front.
COSTELLO: I think many passengers will be happy about that. Thank you very much -- the FAA Administrator, Marion Blakey.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired November 27, 2002 - 07:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Heavy snow is snarling travel today for some travelers around the country, and they are trying to get out of town on what is traditionally the busiest travel day of the year.
Joining us now from the Federal Aviation Administration command center in Herndon, Virginia is FAA Administrator Marion Blakey.
Good morning.
MARION BLAKEY, FAA ADMINISTRATOR: Good morning. How are you?
COSTELLO: I'm fine. Tell us what this command center is, first of all.
BLAKEY: It's a pretty exciting place, because it really is, if you will, the nerve center for air traffic control for all over the country. What we have here on the screens behind us, for example, are all of the flights that are currently in the air. We have a system of tracking what's happening on the runways, what's happening in terms of de-icing at airports all over the country, and all of the weather.
And so, what we're able to do here is pull everyone together -- all of the airlines, our towers, et cetera -- and talk about how we're going to manage the flow. And so far today, it's going very smoothly.
COSTELLO: Oh, that's good, because we were expecting far less. Where are the potential trouble spots from the information you've collected so far?
BLAKEY: Well, as we're looking on the weather maps here, we're seeing the storm that was projected to affect the northeast moving out pretty fast. A little bit of bad weather still at LaGuardia. Boston Logan is still de-icing. But it looks like that storm is going to move through, and so far, there are no significant delays. Could pick up some wind this afternoon at LaGuardia also, which again, might cause a few.
So, we're urging that passengers get to the airports early and be patient. I think that's the key thing for today.
COSTELLO: You're not kidding. We're looking at pictures from LaGuardia Airport. Those pictures taken from this morning. The airports are already packed.
BLAKEY: Yes.
COSTELLO: How many people do you expect to fly today? BLAKEY: Well, you know, we're expecting probably there will be about 50,000 commercial flights today, and those flights are going to be 90 plus percent full. As you know, the airline industry is in deep financial trouble now, and so they have to be efficient. They have to load up every plane, and they'll do so.
The good news is that traffic and the numbers of passengers is up from last year. So, we should expect the terminals to be pretty full. The number of planes is going to be about the same traffic we've been managing all week, so the skies will be steady state (ph).
COSTELLO: So, there will be more people on the planes, but less planes in the air, which is maybe a good thing...
BLAKEY: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... for getting out of the airport on time. Federal workers have taken over at airports across the country. How is that going?
BLAKEY: It's remarkable. We've got 44,000 trained and ready federal screeners out there. The new Transportation Security Administration has really done a terrific job, and those folks really are ready for this holiday. But I think people have to remember, too, that they need our help. They're new on the job to begin with, so let's cut them a little slack, because this is the toughest holiday period of the year.
And we need to do our job in terms of arriving at the terminal with all of the metal objects we can -- our jewelry, telephones and all that. Put them in the carry-on. Don't have to unload it right there when you get to the screening point.
COSTELLO: Right, when you have metal on your belts, take them off.
(CROSSTALK)
BLAKEY: ... things like heavy packages (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
COSTELLO: Right.
BLAKEY: Yes, exactly. Try not to wear those metal shank shoes today. You know, put them in your checked baggage. There are a few things like that that can speed it up for everybody.
COSTELLO: OK, before you go, I do want to ask you about this fuel pump problem on Boeing jets. It sounds pretty scary. They may overheat. The FAA has ordered planes to carry extra fuel. Should we worry about that?
BLAKEY: Well, remember, it is just a specific part of the 747 fleet -- the 747-400s. The issue of igniting fuel in the fuel tanks we've worried about for a long time. And in point of fact, we've been monitoring. And we do know that as long as this extra fuel covering any source of ignition, there will not be an explosion. So, again, a small part of the fleet out there.
And the problem is being addressed. Ultimately, though, we want to fix it, so there's no issue of ignition, there's no issue that there ever could be an explosion.
COSTELLO: I think many passengers...
BLAKEY: And we've got some work we're doing on that front.
COSTELLO: I think many passengers will be happy about that. Thank you very much -- the FAA Administrator, Marion Blakey.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
