Saturday, October 6, 2007

Steven Pearlstein's Oct. 3 Business column, "A Solution That Can't Get Off the Ground," made a case to support "congestion pricing," one that presumably would solve flight-delay problems in the New York City

airports -- JFK, LaGuardia and

Newark.

But the most critical issues in the public debate on airline and airport delays are first, that most of these delays that frustrate consumers are "airspace

delays" and not "airport delays" or even airline-caused delays; and

second, the huge contribution to

airspace congestion of corporate

aircraft.

There are 18,000 high-performance corporate aircraft sharing airspace with airliners, even if they use different airports. The New York City situation provides a graphic example. On a typical Monday morning, the New York air traffic control facility dedicates 40 percent of its capacity to corporate aircraft using Teterboro, N.J., White Plains, N.Y., and other regional airports. How can a market-based solution such as congestion pricing for airlines reflect the fact that 40 percent of the rush-hour capacity is corporate aircraft? It cannot.

Why is the effect of corporate aircraft on congestion so often disregarded? Is it just a case of superb lobbying by big business? As effective as big business may be, I do not think so.

Basically, the corporate jets at corporate-use airports, suffering their own delays waiting to get into common-use airspace, are not visible to the public and to airline-traveling members of Congress.

DUANE WOERTH

Washington

The writer is former president of the Air Line Pilots Association and past co-chair of the Next Generation Air Transportation System, a project of seven federal agencies.