The controversy continues over whether or not the Department of Transportation should cap the number of flights in the New York airspace. Now the obviously overwhelmed New York Port Authority has joined the chorus of “Let’s do nothing.”
This bureaucratic dogfight has been going on for months. Meanwhile the big players and decision makers in Washington are still sitting on their hands.
Of course the big picture is the critical need for an improved air traffic control system and new flight routing system. These infrastructure proposals and the fighting about how to pay for them are coming far in the future. Even if the money were available today, nothing would be functional for about a decade.
What about next month? And the month after? That has been the Department of Transportation’s focus in the short run.
We are back to our national “can’t do” way of thinking. Our leadership is failing us. Our institutions are squabbling and not solving problems.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
