    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 39 (Monday, October 1, 2007)]
    [Page 1258]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks Following a Meeting With Secretary of Transportation Mary E.
    Peters and Federal Aviation Administration Acting Administrator Robert
    A. Sturgell

    September 27, 2007

        The President. Today I'm joined by Secretary of Transportation Mary
    Peters and the Acting Administrator of the FAA, Bobby Sturgell. I want
    to thank you all for coming.
        We've been having a discussion about the fact that a lot of our air
    travelers are not only inconvenienced, they're--in some cases, they're
    just not being treated fairly. And there's a lot of anger amongst our
    citizens about the fact that, you know, they're just not being treated
    right.
        And the Secretary and I have been talking about what to do about it,
    and I've instructed her to report back to me as quickly as possible on
    two matters: One, to make sure that consumers are treated fairly and
    complaints are listened to, and that we address some of the egregious
    behavior that our consumers have been subjected to. Endless hours
    sitting in an airplane on a runway, and there's no communication between
    the pilot and the airport, it's just not right. And so Mary is going to
    work very hard to make sure the system is much more responsive.
        The other issue, of course, is dealing with congestion. And one of
    the reasons why our consumers on airlines, airline passengers are being
    so inconvenienced is because the skies are too crowded. And there's some
    short-term things we're going to do, and Mary is going to report back to
    me about what those will be.
        Also, Congress needs to look at this FAA reauthorization--I call it
    modernization--and work with this Department and work with Bobby
    bringing our FAA into the 21st century, so that our consumers and
    passengers and citizens won't be inconvenienced the way they are.
        Now, we've got a problem; we understand there's a problem; and we're
    going to address the problem. Madam Secretary, I appreciate your
    willingness to do so.
        Secretary Peters. Thank you, Mr. President.
        The President. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:20 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House.