On Costlier Air Travel
By Nick Yates | September 25, 2008
Author: Nick Yates
Business travelers and others may have noticed that the rising price of crude oil has brought, in its wake, costlier air travel.
Checked baggage now incurs extra fees on some carriers; and the use of frequent flyer points to purchase air tickets now requires payment of an additional “fuel surcharge” on most others. Business travelers must apparently learn to live with these added expenses, as any reductions in crude oil prices aren’t being met with suspension of the new fees.
But it now seems the airlines themselves may be in for some unpleasant surprises, courtesy of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Nearly one-third of domestic flights in the United States currently experience delays or outright cancelations. And it is the airports that service the New York - New Jersey area that seem to be responsible for the vast bulk of these problems — or rather their crowded, local skies are.
New York’s JFK and LaGuardia airports and New Jersey’s Newark generate such volumes of air traffic, into such a small amount of surrounding air space, that the FAA feels it has to step in with some dramatic solutions to alleviate the congestion — which now, directly and indirectly, impacts much of the rest of the North American air traffic control system.
What the FAA is proposing is that the number of plane departures at these three airports be reduced, and that some of the existing flight slots be auctioned off to the highest bidders among the competing airlines. This would have the immediate dual effects of lowering air congestion and raising airfares, as airlines would be forced to pass along increased costs to consumers. Money raised in these auctions would be claimed by government for use in further alleviating the problem.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has balked at all this, pointing out that the auction proposals alone could add as much as twelve percent to the cost of airline tickets. But the FAA seems prepared to withhold federal funds if they don’t get their way.
Meanwhile, existing flight delays are reckoned to have cost the country tens of billions in the last year alone. This has been another report by Nick Yates.
Topics: Nick Yates on Travel |