AIR TRAVELERS ASSOCIATION

Potomac, MD, December 30, 2007 – David Stempler, President of the Air Travelers Association, today provided the Association’s assessment of the top ten airline passenger trends and issues for 2008. 

1.                  The Battle with the Government over Delayed Flights versus High Fares will Continue.

Delayed flights are a political problem stemming from the failure of government to modernize the air traffic control system and build improved airports and runways at existing airport.  The Bush Administration is dealing with the large number of delayed flights by capping the number of flights at JFK Airport, and soon will add Newark Airport with capped flights like LaGuardia Airport.  We expect that this will drive airfares up and cut flights from the schedule.  This has the possibility of becoming a trend for other congested areas and airports around the country.  Airports and metropolitan areas that might be subject to flight capping are:  Atlanta; Boston; Los Angeles; Miami/Ft. Lauderdale; Washington, DC; Philadelphia; and San Francisco.

2.                  The Airline System will Continue to Operate at or Near Capacity.

Unless there is a recession, the airline system will continue to operate at near capacity.  To ensure safety, while operating at capacity, if there is any problem like weather, the FAA just slows the system down.  With the system operating near capacity, the smallest problem can have effects that ripple through the system.  In addition, flights are at very high load factors – the percentage of seats that are filled.  If planes are 90% full, and if a flight is cancelled, the math shows that it will take at least 6 or more subsequent flights to get the passengers to their destinations.  If there are only 2 flights a day to that destination, passengers can be required to wait for up to 3 days to get to their destination.  That is why we always encourage airlines to accept delays and avoid cancellations.

3.                  The Start of the Next Generation Air Traffic Control System will continue to be Delayed.

The Next Generation Air Traffic Control System (NextGen) is stuck in the Congress over funding for the GPS satellite-based system.  The battle is over whether each user of the system should pay their fair share of the costs of their usage of the system.  The airlines and their passengers having been overpaying for years, and the corporate jets operators, who operate their “air limousines”, have been underpaying.  The corporate jet crowd would like to keep things just the way they are and are blocking the “fair share” approach. 

The Air Travelers Association has called for an Aviation Summit with Kenneth Feinberg, the 9/11 Victims Fund Administrator as the mediator, but so far no takers.  Without it, the stalemate will extend well into 2008. 

4.                  There will be More Reports of Near Collisions in the Air and On the Ground.

With the combination of a continuing dispute between the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and the FAA, the installation of more precise ground-based radars, the heightening crush of aircraft in the air and on the ground, and even some human errors, fatigue, and inexperience, the number of reported near collisions in the air and on the ground will continue.

5.                  The Battle Over the Passengers’ Bill of Rights versus Passengers Rights to Get to Their Destination Will Continue.

The battle will continue over whether a “Passengers’ Bill of Rights” that forces the plane back to the terminal after a certain amount of time will best serve passengers interests.  But what about the right of passengers who say, “We’ve invested this much time already, don’t cancel
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