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Patrick Forrey Testimony on Issues of Concern to the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area
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Posted: 10-16-2008
Air travel is an integral part the economy and of life in Philadelphia. Ranked the 9th busiest airport in the world and among the fastest growing in the United States,[1] Philadelphia International Airport has had more than 83 million passengers arriving and departing over the last three years.[2] But flying into Philadelphia has become less efficient; Philadelphia is ranked 30th out of 32 major airports in percent of on-time departures, a rate which as fallen from 79 percent in 2001 to only 70 percent in 2008. Arrivals are even worse, with only 67 percent of flights arriving within 15 minutes of their scheduled landing time.
Rather than working with stakeholders to identify and address the roots of this problem, the FAA has endeavored to follow its own flight plan, unilaterally enacting changes to Philadelphia’s airspace design and air traffic control facilities. Neither the dispersal headings nor the de-combination of PHL’s air traffic operations will have any positive impact on air travel into and out of Philadelphia Airport. Rather, both changes will introduce additional safety risk into the system and increase the potential for confusion and inefficiency. The status quo is unacceptable, but changes must directly address the two key components of PHL’s air traffic woes – airline over-scheduling and the under staffing of air traffic control facilities.
NATCA therefore makes the following recommendations to this committee:
1. The FAA should initiate realignment activity only after receiving input and approval from a review board as per the FAA re-authorization bill passed by the House of Representatives and under consideration by the Senate. This board would include representatives from all stakeholder groups including air traffic controllers, pilots, members of congress and the community. In the case of the PHL, the FAA should work with NATCA and consider our alternate plan to reduce the number of positions required for full certification while maintaining the integrity of the combined facility.
2. The FAA must discontinue the use of dispersal headings until such time as full testing – including hot weather testing – is complete and proper procedures – including revised Standard Instrument Departure (SID) charts – have been established. This too must be developed with active participation of all stakeholder groups including air traffic controllers, pilots, members of congress and the community.
3. The FAA should take steps to control airline scheduling and prevent scheduling over the maximum arrival/departure rates.
4. Congress must quickly pass the FAA reauthorization bill, which would require the FAA to return to the bargaining table for fair negotiations with NATCA in order to curtail the rapid attrition from the workforce.
Patrick Forrey Testimony on Issues of Concern to the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area
