Schumer to propose plan to fix costly flight delays
May 27, 2008
Delayed flights in the metropolitan area cost the local economy $4.9 billion in 2007, and Sen. Charles Schumer says he has a plan to fix the mess.
In a report released yesterday, researchers working for the Senate Joint Economic Committee, which Schumer chairs, found that flights delayed by slow fueling, bad weather and chronically overburdened control towers set off widening ripples of airborne tardiness that cost Americans billions of dollars each year.
In fact, the single greatest cause of flight holdups nationwide, the report said, is the glut of other flights that are already running late.
Nationally, the report said the cost was $41 billion in lost productivity, canceled vacations, increased fuel use and other costs.
“The unbelievable waste associated with flight delays in New York City reaches far beyond the tarmac and right into our wallets,” he said in a statement.
Schumer has proposed legislation that among other moves would steer more funding to the air czar the Federal Aviation Administration has appointed to streamline New York’s aviation network. The measure would also permanently open the military airspace that federal authorities now turn over to commercial jet liners only during peak holiday travel periods
After scrutinizing more than 10 million domestic flights last year, the committee researchers found that almost 20 percent of total flight time was wasted in delay.
The lateness forced domestic airlines to spend an extra $19 billion last year for crew, fuel and maintenance costs while planes sat idle at gates or wheeled in holding patterns, the report said.
Delays cost passengers $12 billion in lost time, wrote the researchers, who estimated the average value of each lost passenger-hour was $37.60.
Finally, the report estimated the indirect cost of delay was roughly $10 billion in other industries that rely on air traffic, such as food service, lodging, general retail and public transportation.
Source: Newsday
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