Senate Panel Deals Setback To Open Skies
The Senate Appropriations Committee is complicating efforts by the United States and European Union to increase flights between them. The panel on July 20 voted 19-6 to prevent a Department of Transportation rule allowing foreign investors to have more input on the operations of U.S. carriers from taking effect. The ban would be in place for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. Before the European Union adopts the Open Skies pact, it wants the United States to ease foreign ownership restrictions. Adoption of the proposed rule, which has not yet been implemented, also would increase capital flows to financially struggling U.S. carriers. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) said the panel voted to block the rule in part because of concerns that foreign investors might try to prevent the transportation of U.S. troops on commercial carriers. The airlines, he said, are an "essential arm of our total defense strategy." The regulation also has drawn opposition from labor unions, which worry the influence of foreign investors would lead to job cuts, and Continental Airlines, which would continue to be shut out of London's Heathrow Airport (BTN, Dec. 5, 2005). Former Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, who left the job July 7, said before leaving that the administration intends to finalize the rule by the end of August. It's unclear whether the E.U. would approve the treaty if the Senate provision becomes law and prevents the foreign-investment rule from taking effect Oct. 1.
Senate Panel Rejects Airport Funding Cuts
The Senate Appropriations Committee rejected a proposal by President George W. Bush to cut federal spending on airport construction by $765 million and instead boosted such funding levels by $5.5 million for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. The Senate action on July 20 came a month after the House Appropriations Committee rejected similar cuts and dealt the White House its second setback in as many years in its bid to reduce federal grants by 22 percent to $2.75 billion. The Senate bill would give airports $3.52 billion in federal construction grants; the House on June 14 approved $3.7 billion in funding. Funds, which are raised from ticket and fuel taxes, are given to airports based on need and the number of passengers who use the airport. The legislation also renews the subsidy for Amtrak. The Senate approved $1.4 billion in funds, while the House measure sets federal support at $1.1 billion. Amtrak currently receives a $1.3 billion subsidy. The Senate measure also contains a provision that would bar the railroad from moving some jobs overseas. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.) said he had learned Amtrak was planning to solicit bids from foreign and U.S. vendors to run its reservation system. The full House and Senate must vote on the measures, and a conference committee must reconcile differences between them, before Bush can act on the proposal.
FAA: Tech Will Reduce Weather Delays
The Federal Aviation Administration introduced new technology it said would reduce flight delays caused by weather and save passengers and the airlines $900 million over the next decade to boot. The Airspace Flow Program is designed to help air traffic controllers better identify which aircraft are most likely to encounter extremely bad weather and isolate those planes rather than impose broader delays, FAA administrator Marion Blakey said. "This program allows us to work around severe weather in highly congested airspace with greater precision and efficiency than in the past," she said. FAA estimated there are as many as 40 "severe weather days" per year that result in systemic delays, causing passenger distress and millions in operating losses for the airlines. Under the program, controllers would issue expected departure times to planes expected to pass through bad weather and safely guide them through the area. The technology will be used in its first year at up to six locations in the Midwest, Southeast and East, FAA said.