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Washington, D.C. – The following is the opening statement of U.S. Rep. Tom Petri (R-WI), Aviation Subcommittee Ranking Republican, from today’s subcommittee hearing on how airlines and airports are preparing for the busy holiday travel season.
“I would like to welcome our witnesses today and thank Chairman Costello for calling this hearing.
“According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, holiday travel across all modes accounts for 8.3 % of all trips and 9.8% of all miles traveled during the year.
“During the five days surrounding Thanksgiving, an average of 10.8 million trips are taken per day, which is nearly double the average number for the rest of the year.
“According to the Air Transport Association, a record 19.8 million passengers will fly during the week and a half surrounding the Thanksgiving holiday.
“Like many Americans, I will be traveling the Sunday after Thanksgiving, traditionally the busiest travel day of the year, and I am hoping for clear weather and smooth travel. So I look forward to today’s discussion on what airports and airlines are doing to keep the planes safe and on-time in the upcoming holiday travel crunch.
“For many of Americans, air travel has become a nightmare. Earlier this year, on-time performance hit record lows. Severe weather caused a fair share of the delays, but it is not the only culprit. Delays due to chokepoints in the national airspace system, such as the New York airspace, have negative effects that ripple throughout the system and cause delays nationwide. Outdated airspace management is also partially to blame.
“The government’s responsibility is to adequately fund capacity improvement programs, FAA staffing and operational needs, and the modernization of the air traffic control system.
“After twenty years, modernization efforts finally seem to be moving forward, but efforts in Congress to authorize higher capital funding levels and important FAA programs in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2007, H.R. 2881, have stalled on the Senate side.
“As we enter the holiday travel season, we all know that frustrations are running high. When things go wrong and flights are delayed, we tend to take it out on the airlines – in part because they are who we interact with during these stressful occasions. But really, this is like blaming truckers for road congestion. The airlines are simply trying to meet the demand of the flying public.
“When you look at it, the underlying cause of delays and congestion is that we simply don't have the capacity on the ground and in the air to handle the number of travelers who want to fly.
“While there may be plenty of blame to go around, it is more important to focus on how to solve the problem at hand and safely get the most capacity out of the existing aviation system. Long term, we must transform the system through integration of the best technology and new operational procedures.
“I am interested in hearing today what airlines are doing to handle the anticipated 4% increase in passenger volume over last year. In particular, how are the airlines and airports going to accommodate those who may be ‘bumped’ in the case of missed connections or weather delays?
“Sometimes, just getting to the gate in time for a flight can cause headaches. The holidays are not the typical business travel day – many passengers will not be accustomed to TSA’s procedures. To this end, I am interested in hearing what airports may be doing to assist passengers through TSA security lines in a timely fashion – a particular pet peeve of mine having missed flights due to security back-ups.
“Thanksgiving is about home and family. I sincerely hope that this time next week, home is where we all are and family is what we are thinking about. I thank the witnesses for appearing today, and more importantly, for the work they are doing to ensure a smooth holiday travel season.”
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