Airlines urge increase in FAA staffing, budget

The major U.S. airline trade association Wednesday called on Congress and the Bush administration to expedite release of money earmarked for improving navigation systems, increasing the number of air traffic controllers and upgrading the FAA's computers in order to address air travel delays.

The Air Transport Association asked that the government consider stepping up the timing and the funding for some programs contained in the $40 billion aviation bill, known as AIR-21, which Congress passed last year.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., have expressed interest in working to speed up funds for runway construction, ATA said.

However, officials acknowledged that getting Congress to change the formulas in the wake of the battle over AIR-21 last year and the absence of its key sponsor, retiring House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bud Shuster, R-Pa., would be a challenge.

"We believe it's in the interest of not only passengers, but the entire economy of this country to get past the gridlock," said ATA President Carol Hallett.

ATA called on President Bush to make aviation a top priority just days before a Transportation Department inspector general's report is expected to fault the airlines for not doing enough to improve customer service, although ATA denied that the release of its plans are intended to deflect attention from that.

"This is not a pre-emptive move on anything," Hallett said. "This is a signal to the new administration that there are ways to improve the system."

ATA wants FAA to hire more than 1,000 new air traffic controllers' in order to better manage air traffic. The organization said such a move would cost $200 million over five years and urged FAA to start hiring controllers now.

ATA also endorsed implementing a Global Positioning System-based satellite navigation system in five years, not in 10 years as FAA has planned, at a cost of $2.15 billion, in order to improve navigation in bad weather and allow pilots to make better approaches. Weather accounts for about 70 percent of delays, and the FAA's current policy of rerouting planes around potential storms would be less necessary with improved technology, ATA says.

Also, ATA wants $1.7 billion in accelerated funds to upgrade FAA's main air traffic control system, the HOST computer, and more priority placed on the redesign of the country's airspace.