[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 27, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3000-S3001]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself and Mr. Rockefeller):
  S. 633. A bill to provide for the review and management of airport 
congestion, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I rise today, with my colleague 
Senator Rockefeller, to introduce legislation that will bring real 
relief to the hundreds of millions of passengers that have been 
suffering through the dramatic increase in the number of flight delays 
and cancellations in our passenger aviation system.
  I know that most of my colleagues are, by necessity, frequent fliers. 
So you know how bad it is out there and you have heard the statistics. 
More than twenty-five percent of the scheduled flights last year were 
delayed or canceled. The length of the average delay has also 
increased, despite the extra ``fudge time'' built into eighty-three 
percent of flights by the airlines to compensate for delays they know 
are going to occur.
  Not coincidentally, the number of annual air travelers is also 
rising. Between 1995 and 1999, the number of air travelers increased 
nearly sixteen percent, from about 582 million to 674 million. The 
Federal Aviation Administration estimates that this number will 
increase to more than 1 billion by the end of this decade. To meet this 
increased demand, the number of scheduled flights has also increased.
  However, there has not been a commensurate increase in the number of 
new aviation facilities. Only one major airport has opened in the last 
decade, in Denver, and only a handful of new runways and terminals have 
been completed to deal with the new demand. Unfortunately, the process 
for making capital improvements to existing airports is often painfully 
slow and easily derailed by well-organized groups who use every 
possible impediment to delay a new runway until it becomes impossibly 
expensive and difficult to build.
  Unless we significantly expand the capacity of our aviation system, 
we will not be able to meet the growing demand for air travel. Air 
fares will skyrocket and delays will continue to spread across the 
system. The loss of American productivity, from millions of hours lost 
while sitting on an airport tarmac, will be incalculable.
  Fixing the problem will call for more infrastructure and better air 
traffic control facilities. But we must meet the challenge now so these 
new runways and terminals can be ready before we have a real crisis on 
our hands.
  Until now, most of the focus here in Congress has been on passenger 
service. The Commerce Committee recently reported a bill, which I 
cosponsored, to force airlines to live up to their promises to provide 
improved customer service, especially during delays and cancellations. 
Passenger service is critical, but the real cause of consumers' 
frustration is the explosive growth in the number and length of flight 
delays. This bill gets to the heart of that issue.
  The bill instructs the Secretary to develop a procedure to ensure 
that the approval process for runways, terminals and airports is 
streamlined. Federal, state, regional and local reviews would take 
place simultaneously, not one after the other.
  In no way would this mean that environmental laws would be ignored or 
broken. The bill does not limit the grounds on which a lawsuit may be 
filed. It simply provides the community with a reasonable time line to 
get an answer. If that answer is ``no,'' then the community is free to 
explore other transportation options.
  The bill also addresses the unfortunate practice of the airlines to 
overschedule at peak hours. At many airports, these schedules are so 
densely packed that, even in perfect weather conditions throughout the 
country, there is no way the airlines could possibly meet them. The 
result is chronically late flights.
  The legislation directs the Secretary to study the options to ease 
congestion at crowded airports. The legislation also grants the 
airlines a limited antitrust exemption, so that they may consult with 
one another, subject to the Secretary's approval, to re-schedule 
flights from the most congested hours to off-peak times.
  We have all experienced flights that push away from the gate only to 
languish for hours on the tarmac waiting to take off. The current 
system logs these flights as on-time departures. This legislation would 
change the definition of ``on-time departure'' to mean that the flight 
is airborne within 20 minutes of its scheduled departure time.
  Our national economic health depends upon the reliability of our 
aviation system. If we fail to act now, that reliability will be placed 
in serious jeopardy.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I join today with the chairwoman of 
the Aviation Subcommittee in introducing the Aviation Delay Prevention 
Act. The bill is intended to start a dialogue about some of the 
solutions for reducing congestion, specifically ways to expedite 
airport construction, and provide a mechanism for air carriers to talk 
about changing flight schedules to reduce delays. This is a tough issue 
with no easy, simple solutions. Senator Hutchison and I know this. I 
also know that this specific piece of legislation is intended to 
provide a framework for a debate on how to provide a better air 
transportation system for travelers. We must, though, continue our 
efforts to work through every issue in our efforts to enable the FAA, 
airports and air carriers to provide a more efficient air 
transportation system.
  Senator Hutchison and I want to provide our colleagues with 
constructive and feasible legislative provisions that are well thought 
out and considered. We will hold a hearing on this bill on Thursday, 
eliciting testimony from the Department of Transportation, DOT, the 
Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, airports and airlines, as well as 
general aviation.
  We do know we are facing an aviation system that today is overcrowded 
and cannot keep up with demand. Tomorrow's demand forecasts are also 
daunting, with an increase in passenger traffic from about 670 million 
passengers to more than a billion. As we review the problems of our 
aviation system, I am constantly thinking and envisioning a system with 
twice the number of planes, and twice the number of people traveling 
within the next 10 years. Today, right now, we have airports that 
cannot accommodate all of

[[Page S3001]]

the planes. We have terminals that need to be expanded, and runways 
that must be built. One thing all of us know is that without adequate 
runways and terminals, no one is well served.
  We see it first hand as we fly around the country, as our planes are 
delayed, as we talk with constituents at home and here in Washington, 
that our aviation system is running on empty. Last year, we had to 
fight and claw our way to getting bills that finally provides 
sufficient money for the FAA to be able to build new runways and buy 
new equipment. We must be vigorous in ensuring that the Administration 
does not make cuts to these key programs, as was initially proposed by 
the Bush Administration. Knowing that it takes years to build a runway 
and years to develop new air traffic control systems, we cannot 
shortchange the system.
  Last year, as part of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and 
Reform Act, FAIR-21, P.L. 106-181, we set out a road map for a more 
businesslike Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, creating a 
corporate-type Board with people from non-aviation related businesses 
to oversee air traffic control. We created a Chief Operating Officer, 
COO, to run air traffic, with specific authority to focus on 
operations, the budget and establishing a goal-oriented ATC. In 
addition, we made sure that the money was provided to buy new ATC 
equipment to expand ATC capacity.
  With respect to airports, we authorized significant increases in 
Airport Improvement Program monies, increases of $1.25, $1.35 and $1.45 
billion over 1999 funds, $1.95 billion. We also gave airports the 
ability to increase their passenger facility fees from $3 to $4.50 per 
person. The money is there to build and expand capacity. But, nothing 
happens overnight and we all know it.

  With the reforms of the FAA and the funding, we are on a path to 
change. Yet, even with that path, we are not able to keep up with 
demand, particularly in the short term. Secretary Mineta has already 
stated he wants to use the reforms of FAIR-21, and not get bogged down 
in an age-old debate over FAA privatization/corporatization. The Air 
Transport Association, ATA, has echoed this sentiment. Nonetheless, we 
must look at ways particularly in the near term, to provide relief to 
travelers, and in the longer term figure out better ways to build 
runways, while being cognizant of the need to be environmentally 
conscious.
  Right now we have runway construction underway at Denver, Detroit-
Metro, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Houston, and Orlando. Miami is set to 
begin construction within the next month or two as is St. Louis. 
Charlotte is awaiting the United-US Airways merger decision before it 
begins construction since the carriers will help finance the project. 
At other airports, runway planning is ongoing. Chip Barclay, the 
President of the American Association of Airport Executives, in 
testimony before a House Committee recently noted that if we could 
build 50 more miles of additional runways we could solve our airport 
capacity problem. Fifty miles. Each of us wants them built more 
quickly, but changes in the laws may not expedite the current 
construction. Yet, we can ensure, as this bill does, that the FAA and 
other Federal, State and local agencies do a better job of coordinating 
the various environmental and planning reviews necessary before a 
runway is built. It is a starting point for the discussion, but by no 
means an end point. We want to expedite construction, without intruding 
upon the necessary environmental reviews.
  AAAE has put out a proposal to expedite runway construction, and we 
will carefully evaluate it too. I have been developing my own 
legislation which will build upon the bill we introduced today and want 
to work with Senator Hutchison and other members on that bill. I have 
learned that this is a complicated problem, with no easy, or quick, 
solutions. As the legislation we introduce today is considered by the 
Committee, changes will be made to reflect many concerns and issues. 
Senator Hutchison and I want to work with the entire aviation community 
in addressing and solving this issue.
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