An aviation advisory panel on Wednesday recommended that
federal legislators swiftly appropriate funding to enhance aircraft navigation
technology and investigate whether aviation taxes are disproportionately
burdensome on the airline industry as well as consumers. The panel also asked
the government to require additional transparency for ancillary fees and code
share agreements.
Department of Transportation secretary Ray LaHood said a
timeframe for implementation of some recommendations would be established in
February.
LaHood in April tasked the Future of Aviation Advisory
Committee with developing recommendations to advance the aviation industry.
This week the committee announced its recommendations, focused on five
categories: environmental, financing, competition, workforce and labor and
safety. But the primary objective is to urge Congress to approve funding for
NextGen air traffic control technology.
"What is apparent through every subcommittee is
NextGen," said panelist Thella Bowens, president and CEO of the San Diego
County Regional Airport Authority. "That was the common thread that went
through every discussion, and to the extent that they were independent
recommendations, they are also looked at very holistically."
"The thought was, 'We've got the science, let's go
build it,' " agreed David Barger, CEO of JetBlue.
The airline industry traditionally is known as a
money-loser, recent net profits notwithstanding. LaHood's committee, comprised
of members from the private aviation industry, the public sector and the
Federal Aviation Administration, is designed to address solutions that focus on
the "now," according to LaHood.
"On NextGen we are totally on the same wavelength.
Twenty months ago, we were having difficulty getting the attention of some of
our friends about NextGen and how to pay for it, but I think we have gotten
people's attention at the White House," said LaHood. "We are with you
on this and we think we have the White House with us now."
"One of the things that is unique about NextGen is that
there is a very positive business case," said FAA administrator Randy
Babbitt. "If this was a proposal made to a board of directors, you would
all vote for it because you would see the return to the corporation and you
would see the benefit on the dollar. This suffers from lack of information to
the public."
NextGen technology would switch airline navigation from
radar-based to satellite-based, much like that of a car's global positioning
system. But a related bill has struggled to pass Congress since its
introduction in 2007 because it requires the federal government to foot roughly
$50 billion.
If funding were approved, the committee argued, the aviation
industry would be able to cut carbon emissions by flying shorter routes and
would become more competitive in the global sphere. "We have some
incredible heritage in this country around aviation ... but we must recognize
that we are competing with others throughout the entire world making significant
investments in their infrastructure, in their equipment and in their
airlines--and that our ability to take a coordinated approach is absolutely
critical for our future," said Nicole Piasecki, vice president of business
development for Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
However, Haas School of Business professor Severin
Borenstein differed, urging LaHood to deemphasize NextGen.
Said Borenstein, "In these times of extremely tight
budgets at the federal level, the standards that we have for consideration of
government subsidiary [funding] should be quite high, and we did not see the
evidence [for NextGen] in my belief."
The committee then tackled the heavy taxes placed on the
aviation industry in what it called a controversial issue. Members were divided
on determining whether aviation taxes were "disproportional," and
agreed to recommend that the DOT conduct an investigation into the taxes to
determine if the collection and redistribution was appropriate or if it hurt
profitability.
"We don't think that 17 separate taxes are sufficiently
transparent. We certainly don't think that there is a unity of view on who has
the jurisdiction on who is to know whether they are appropriate. We really
think that it is your team that has the best opportunity to bring some clarity
to the efficacy of the tax burden on the industry," said Glenn Tilton,
chairman, president and CEO of UAL Corporation.
Calls For Ancillary
And Codesharing Visibility
The panel also advised DOT to support further legislation to
increase transparency of ancillary fees so that travelers fully understand the
total price of a ticket, and for airlines to further disclose code share
agreements. The panel also suggested that when reporting major airlines' ontime
performance and customer satisfaction scores in their monthly reports, DOT
should include code share agreements.
"We found that unfortunately [monthly travel
statistics] have become a little less valuable because the DOT categorizes
carriers by operating certificate rather than by marketing partners," said
William J. McGee of the travel and aviation consultant for Consumers Union.
"Quite frankly, consumers are not shopping for carriers based on their
regional partners, but that's how the delay statistics to consumers or
complaint statistics are segregated--by operating carrier rather than by who is
selling the ticket."
Other recommendations issued to LaHood would require the
government to better redistribute funding for transportation to and from
airports, ensuring a timeline for aircraft operators to utilize NextGen, and to
improve methods to predict safety risks incorporating planning for NextGen.
"We recognize how competitive things are. This year
alone I went to eight different countries to look at high-speed rail, and I
flew into airports and I am shocked everywhere I go [by] the expansion of
airports in Europe and in Asia, particularly in China," said LaHood. The
committee "really put a fine point on the importance of the work that has
to be done, but more importantly the work that needs to be done in order to
stay competitive."
LaHood said DOT would dedicate a full-time employee to
advance the committee's recommendations ahead of its mid-February target date
for setting an implementation timetable.
Source: Management.travel