FAA Proposal Causes Concern with Congestion Pricing

The long-awaited legislation for reforming air traffic control and financing the next generation system fell short of the mark when it was released last Wednesday raising concerns about congestion pricing, putting those with the deepest pockets in charge.
While the proposal – the Next Generation Air Transportation System Financing Reform Act of 2007 – promises to reduce congestion, improve passenger travel and cut down noise, it remains unclear what the impact will be on regionals. Proposals to establish congestion pricing or slot auctions are of concern to the industry. While he has not analyzed the proposed legislation, RAA President Roger Cohen said, “We are going to be looking very critically at the proposal. Congestion management fees are a threat to small- and medium-sized community air service which is something we have been outspoken about. We will be looking at it so that we can preserve and protect regional air service.” He strongly objected to characterizations by Government Accountability Office's Gerald Dillingham that regionals impose more costs on the system. “We fundamentally disagree with that,” he said.
ATA went further, picking apart the legislation and expressing “deep concerns” over many aspects including the congestion fee. “The administration’s proposal includes a fee for operating in the “most congested” airspace, but improperly pegs that fee to large airports,” it said. “By tying the fee to the airport, the FAA does not address the real congestion issue in surrounding airspace. For example, 20 percent of en route traffic in the New York area comes from general aviation traffic that does not use large airports in the area and no rationale exists for the continuation of a subsidy.” For a complete report see the February 19 issue of Regional Aviation News.