Size Minimums?
Searching for a new remedy, the FAA last year proposed minimum average sizes for the planes that fly into and out of La Guardia. Currently, planes using the airport average 98 seats, the agency says. It proposed that airlines' fleets would have to average 105 to 120 seats, depending on how many of their flights went to small communities. The FAA estimated this plan would reduce delays at La Guardia by 37%.
"Promoting larger aircraft is the only means to increase passenger access to La Guardia," said the FAA proposal. But opposition from airlines and smaller communities was so strong that the plan is basically dead, says the agency's Ms. Blakey.
Foes of the plan included the Port Authority, which considers aircraft size at La Guardia an airport issue. The Port Authority says it could bring about larger planes simply by writing aircraft size requirements into gate leases. It says it's studying such an idea.
Former American Airlines boss Robert Crandall says Congress should let the FAA go back to controlling slots, matching scheduling to capacity. Airport overcrowding is "fixable, but it's not fixable without major policy change," the former AMR Corp. CEO said at a recent conference.
Another proposal: Change the structure of landing fees. Airports now set them by weight. A small jet pays a smaller landing fee than a large plane, even though its use of the runway is the same. Why not charge a flat fee per landing, suggest some economists -- or even charge the small jets more, to encourage airlines to shift to fewer flights on larger jets?
Yet another idea is to tie landing fees to the level of demand through the day, so they'd cost more at peak hours. This would encourage airlines to spread out flights and use bigger planes, says Dorothy Robyn, a consultant at Brattle Group and former aviation adviser in the Clinton administration. She says the current system "guarantees overuse of the air-traffic-control system because airlines aren't charged the true cost."
Airlines say tinkering with landing fees, which are only about 2% of total costs, wouldn't change their behavior, because customers want the convenient service possible when they use lots of smaller planes. Carriers say less use of small jets would make it harder for them to offer off-peak flights. "We put [regional jets] into some markets because we don't have demand at certain times," says David Seymour, vice president of operations control at
US Airways Group Inc. Airlines add that less use of smaller jets also would reduce connection options for people on long transcontinental or international trips.
With its commuter affiliates using smaller planes, US Airways flies nine trips a day from La Guardia to also-congested Philadelphia International Airport. There, most passengers connect to other flights. The arrangement allows US Airways to offer New York customers more options for long trips.
Carriers contend that without changing rules, the FAA could do a better job of moving traffic into and out of the Northeast. They note that JFK has four runways, but usually only two are used at once. The reasons are complicated, and include a limited number of permissible flight paths, as well as bottlenecks that can result in the Washington area. A push this year to use three JFK runways at once has had mixed results.
An almost decadelong effort to redesign the designated airways around New York to move airplanes faster and more efficiently is still bogged down in regulatory review. Neighborhoods that might face more noise have been trying to derail the plan in Congress.
Surge in Flights
The FAA says it is doing the best it can with old equipment and a surge in flights. The agency's Ms. Blakey says she thinks airlines will eventually have to switch to larger jets because of the costs that delays impose on the airlines, in inefficient use of planes and fuel. Even such a shift wouldn't fix all the delay issues, though, she says: "La Guardia is always going to be a bottleneck."
With delays climbing, airlines face a tough choice unless the FAA can boost capacity. Carriers have to accept delays, or else reduce flight frequency. Not wanting to risk losing passengers to competitors, airlines are showing scant interest so far in consolidating their numerous small-plane flights into fewer flights with bigger planes.
On Nov. 4,
American Airlines will offer new nonstop flights between New York and Flint, Mich. American will send a morning flight to La Guardia and a flight back to Flint at 6:40 p.m., adding to the competition at La Guardia for precious runway space. The jets American will use: 37-seaters.