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...travel scenario that has become all too familiar for Marion Blakey, administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). A severe thunderstorm hits a hub airport like Dallas-Fort Worth, grounding all of the planes there for two hours. Soon those delays spread to airports nationwide, and flights that weren't even bound for Dallas could be canceled. By that point, tens of thousands of passengers might be affected and millions in revenue lost by the airlines. And when the next storm hits, it will happen all over again...
...bold move, Blakey tacked on a request for NextGen funding to the FAA reauthorization bill, which determines the FAA's budget, that Congress must pass by Sept. 30. If Congress does not pass the bill by then, the FAA will stop collecting taxes and would only have enough money to function for two months. But lawmakers and aviation experts agree that NextGen must be funded. When Congress returns to session in September, figuring out how to fund NextGen will be a top priority...
...satellite technology has already proven successful overseas and in the U.S. The European Union has upgraded to satellite technology in its air traffic control systems. Package delivery company UPS uses the technology in many of its planes and at its hub in Louisville, Ken. The FAA has also been testing it since the late 1990s in Alaska, which had a high accident rate because of the rough terrain in the state. Since the satellite technology was installed on small planes in Alaska, its accident rate there has declined 40%, says Blakey...
...almost impossible to determine how many flights are getting delayed on the tarmac. Smallen acknowledges that the available BTS data cannot accurately answer that question. To find data on Hanni's flight, Mogel - who runs a business developing software products - had to sift through FAA records to see when and where her flight actually landed. "That process of brute force takes about 30 minutes per flight," he says. "In 2006, there were 120,000 cancelled flights and 16,000 diverted flights. We're talking 136,000 flights to look at." Castelveter admitted that with new reporting procedures, the BTS data...
...airlines pay a disproportionate part of the system," says FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown. "Business jets are an important part of the general aviation category and under the current structure [they] don't pay for the financial system." Commercial airlines and their passengers pay about 95% of the taxes but only account for 73% of the costs of the air traffic system, according to FAA administrator Marion Blakey. The idea coming before Congress is to overhaul the current system in favor of satellite GPS technology and aviation-funding strategies that would also include a new user-fee system to bring...