Says DOT Decision Amounts To 'Congestion Pricing'

When it comes to the controversial topic of so-called "congestion pricing," general aviation pilots and commercial airlines stand on common ground. As carriers fight a recent Department of Transportation decision to allow new airport landing fees, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has vowed to combat any attempt to discriminate against general aviation at the nation's airports.

As ANN reported last week, Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters announced airports could increase landing charges on commercial airliners during the busiest periods, to encourage carriers to more evenly distribute flights throughout the day.

Several analysts applauded the move, as a needed step to combat increasing airline delays during peak times... but, AOPA notes, the aviation community has almost universally rejected so-called "peak-hour pricing" or "congestion pricing."

"All federally funded airports, by law, must be open to all classes of users without unjust discrimination," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "Whether through fees or slot restrictions, airlines and general aviation must be treated reasonably and fairly. And AOPA will do whatever it takes to ensure that principle of law is upheld."

Acknowledging current FAA airport rates and charges guidelines allow airports to establish different landing fees during various times of the day, AOPA states general aviation, the airlines, and even airports have opposed congestion pricing as an ineffective, and ultimately unfair, way to ration airport capacity.

In December, the New York Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) -- established to make recommendations to the Department of Transportation on ways to reduce congestion at the three major airports in the New York area -- did not endorse congestion pricing, recommending the creation of new air routes instead. AOPA was a member of that committee.

"Many members of the working group expressed strong concerns about the application of congestion pricing or auctions as a primary method to allocate airport capacity at New York airports," said ARC leaders in a December 13 letter to Peters (shown below), reports AOPA. "There was concern that a congestion pricing or auction system would cause disruption to the market and may not be effective in moving flights out of peak times."

Despite those recommendations, however -- and bucking earlier reports DOT had heeded airline opposition to such a plan -- the agency announced congestion pricing as its solution to the problem.

"Why did they waste taxpayer money chartering an advisory committee if they weren’t going to listen to the recommendations?" Boyer asked rhetorically. "They want to impose 'market based' controls whether or not the industry thinks congestion pricing would be an appropriate way to reduce delays."

Boyer stressed general aviation traffic is NOT what causes airline delays at the nation's busiest airports -- AOPA figures show GA accounts for less than two percent of total operations at JFK International, for example -- so GA should not be forced to pay a penalty.

"To solve the airline delay problems and create an aviation system that serves the needs of all users, we need to add runway capacity and modernize the air traffic control system. And the first step toward that would be passing an FAA funding bill without user fees," he added.

FMI: www.aopa.org, www.dot.gov, www.panynj.gov/CommutingTravel/airports/html/