Emphasizes Reduced Ticket Fees, Lower Taxes, Shorter Delays

The FAA states under its new funding plan -- formally known as the Next Generation Air Transportation System Financing Reform Act of 2007 -- passengers travelling on commercial airliners will see significant benefits, at a time when passenger demand has already returned to pre-9/11 levels. The agency projects US commercial airlines will carry more than one billion passengers annually by 2015.

Benefits touted by the agency from its proposed funding scheme to passengers and the public include:

• Reduced congestion and passenger delays -- The FAA states the NextGen ATC system will accommodate two-to-three times current traffic levels by shifting from 40 year-old ground-based, voice-driven technology to satellite-based, cockpit-to-cockpit enabled air traffic management. The FAA states if it fails to achieve this system transformation by 2014, it estimates there will be 29 days in which the number of delays would exceed the highest one-day total recorded in 2004. Also, estimates suggest Americans will lose $22 billion in annual economic activity by 2022.
• Reduced travel time -- NextGen technologies like ADS-B will give pilots and air traffic controllers more detailed information, allowing flights to go from point to point, all while maintaining safety levels.
• Provides tax relief -- The FAA's proposed financing bill eliminates the domestic passenger ticket tax, the segment tax, and reduces the international arrival and departure tax by 50 percent. This change will significantly reduce the overall burden on airlines and the traveling public.
• Reduces emissions and noise -- Area Navigation (RNAV) arrival and departure procedures take advantage of NextGen’s satellite-based technologies and, as they expand across the system, will drastically reduce noise, emissions, and fuel usage. The FAA notes RNAV procedures at Atlanta are already saving airlines $34 million in fuel costs and we expect to deploy 50 additional RNAV procedures nationwide by the end of 2007.
• Improves water quality -- A new environmental demonstration pilot program will fund de-icing and anti-icing technologies that will reduce the impact on water quality and facilitate safer and more efficient use of the system.

FMI: www.faa.gov