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CNN Live Sunday

FAA Says Flight Delays Are on Record Pace, Again

Aired May 06, 2001 - 17:32   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.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: Summer travel by car will cost money, but traveling by air will cost a lot of time. A government report says flight delays in the United States almost equal last year's record number. A House subcommittee took up the issue in a hearing last week. Federal officials said flight delays and cancellations for the three months of 2001 are closely tracking last year's rate.

During those months, government figures show more than 295,000 flights were delayed; about 45,000 were canceled. Federal Aviation Administrator Jane Garvey says steps are being taken now to fix the problem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANE GARVEY, FAA ADMINISTRATOR: Each airport presents a unique set of challenges, and each airport requires a specific set of solutions. We think the report is a good starting point. Our emphasis, and that is the government, airlines and the airports, must be to quickly shift to solutions.

We've taken a first cut at potential solutions for each of these eight airports. The actions include new technology; it includes air traffic control procedural changes; in some instances, new runways; and a review of airline scheduling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRAZIER: We're going to spend some more time discussing these airline delays now, and we are joined by David Stempler, who is president of the Air Travelers Association, and who joins us from our Washington bureau.

Mr. Stempler, thanks for coming in tonight.

DAVID STEMPLER, PRESIDENT, AIR TRAVELERS ASSN.: Stephen, good to be with you.

FRAZIER: You heard Ms. Garvey there describe eight airports where there is some test things under way. What are those?

STEMPLER: Well, they're really just working at the edged of the problem, and there's not really any significant changes really from last year. I mean, the basic root cause of the problem that we have here in this country is we have an inadequate amount of aviation infrastructure.

And what do I mean by that? We have an outdated and inefficient air traffic control system, and in effect, we're really moving airplane around this country the same way we did 50 years ago without improvement, and then we don't have enough airports, and at those airports we don't have enough runways and taxi-ways and terminals and gates. So, we're just short here.

FRAZIER: Technologically, is there another way to put airplanes up into the sky other than single file, one down a runway at a time?

STEMPLER: The way we started moving airplanes around this country was single file down these interstate highways in the skies called airways. And you can imagine, if we had our interstate highways on the ground doing that, with everyone going single file, what kind of gridlock we'd have, and certainly, there's some weather blocking it.

You know, there is a great technology on the horizon, a GPS-based navigation system, the kind of thing lots of people are using in their cars or whatever, but we really need to move that along a little faster to get that available to aviation.

FRAZIER: And what exactly would that do? Would that let more planes fly side-by-side, like to use your highway metaphor?

STEMPLER: Well, absolutely. In other words, when you fly, let's say, from Atlanta out to Los Angeles, you have to follow somewhat of a circuitous route from navigation point to navigation point, and it's not a straight route. With a GPS-based system, you would go straight from Atlanta to Los Angeles, and computers on the ground would make determinations if there are potential conflicts, and make adjustments in flight path and speed.

FRAZIER: Well, that all sounds wonderful, but it's a ways down the road. In the shorter term, what is the right thing to?

STEMPLER: Well, I think we need to get a hold of the situation. The first thing we need to do is sort of get everyone together and working together on this problem. There seems to be so many different proposals floating out there, and ideas and finger-pointing.

What we've sort of been proposing is to have a big national task force where all the interest groups get together, try to work on a solution. Much luck the moon shop, when we went to the moon in the '60s. Everyone got together, we're pulling in the same direction and we came up with a solution and get there by the end of that decade.

FRAZIER: If I understand you from the preparation I've been reading, you're pulling in the same direction as many of the airlines already. This is not you versus them.

STEMPLER: Oh, absolutely. You know, we sort of view that the airlines are our suppliers in terms of providing the services that we need, and we really can't function if we're going to be at war with our suppliers. But the big problem here is really a government one, and the government needs to really get going to improve the infrastructure to meet the demands that the citizens really require.

FRAZIER: You know, every new runway at each airport is fought by neighbors.

STEMPLER: Well, you know, we as passengers complain about delays and cancellations, but then, when our local airport, as you said, wants to put in a runway or a new terminal, we put on our homeowners hat and we scream bloody murder, and we have to realize that this is really what's -- those kinds of decisions and limiting what we're doing with improving our airports are really going to have an impact on our jobs and our security and our economic future.

FRAZIER: So, with that kind of statement, do you think that Congress is going to get more responsive, then, in pushing for some -- it's not really -- it's a municipal issue. Congress can't even deal with some of these.

STEMPLER: Well, it's a state and it's a local and it's a federal issue in terms of how we get these things done. The federal government can't really respond in terms of building new facilities on the ground, but the federal government is really responsible for this air traffic control system.

And don't forget the airline industry is the only industry where the federal government controls the whole rate of production. You cannot back an airplane off the gate, taxi it to the runway and take off without the approval and the control of the Federal Aviation Administration, and if they do a bad job, which they sometimes do, then the airlines and the passengers suffer for it.

FRAZIER: All right, we've got to go, but I want to ask you one last question; you've got 10 words to answer it. Did we suffer -- are we still feeling the side effects from Ronald Reagan's dismissal of all the air traffic controllers those many years ago?

STEMPLER: Well, not yet, but they're all getting ready to retire, those replacement people, and it's a very big issue that a lot of us in the business are very concerned about.

FRAZIER: David Stempler from the Air Travelers Association, thank you for joining us this afternoon and for those insights.

STEMPLER: Stephen, good to be with you.

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