Schumer calls for FAA head's resignation

(Washington - WABC, July 17, 2007) - New York Senator Charles Schumer is calling for the resignation of a key federal official.

After years of what he called neglect and a total inability to address the serious problems facing the aviation system in New York City, Senator Charles Schumer Tuesday called for FAA Administrator Marion Blakey to resign effective immediately.

Schumer said for years, despite a surge in air traffic in the New York City area, Blakey's administration has done next to nothing to relieve congestion and prevent potentially disastrous collisions. He said she has left control towers severely understaffed and not replaced antiquated equipment. Schumer added that despite repeated calls for action and a comprehensive overhaul of the airspace over New York City, the FAA's modernization programs are years delayed and significantly over budget.

When questioned by Schumer during a Senate hearing last week, he says she failed to provide any answers as to why the system has become so clogged or acknowledge that near misses at New York City airports were even a real problem.

"The leadership at the FAA time and again has failed New Yorkers," Schumer said. "So now it is time for that leadership to change. The FAA has single-handedly created a crisis in the skies over New York and done next to nothing to correct it. Not only are the skies more congested and tangled than ever, but the number of near misses on the runways has raised serious questions about overall safety. We need an FAA that works to fix these problems, not ignore them."

Schumer has repeatedly called on the FAA to upgrade technology at New York's airports, come to the table with the air traffic controllers' union to settle their differences and fast track their airspace redesign plan. He says none of these goals have been accomplished, with the FAA reporting far too little progress on any of them. He says the bitterness between controllers and the FAA has spiked, creating tension and distractions in the control towers. He says the towers and control centers are dangerously understaffed and controllers are still using 1970's technology.

"If the FAA tomorrow were to put the adequate number of people in the control towers, the delays would decrease immediately," Schumer said.

Schumer said that the fact that roughly one out of every three flights in and out of the New York area airports are delayed or cancelled threatens to cut off the economic artery of the entire city. Airlines are often quick to blame weather for delays, but critics say that doesn't begin to explain it.

"We did a little survey and compared one month at LaGuardia this year to last year," Schumer said. "Traffic was 3 percent lower this year. The weather was better this year than last year, and delays were up 30 percent. That tells you something is rotten."

More than 100 million travelers pass through the airports every year, and Schumer says New York simply cannot afford to have these airports not function properly.

Along with growing congestion and skyrocketing flight delays, Schumer said that recent reported near misses and runway incursions at La Guardia and Newark airports show that the FAA's efforts to manage the traffic in New York safely has been totally ineffective.

In addition, he says the FAA's proposal to limit the number of flights in and out of LaGuardia in order to curb increasing delays has been met with total opposition. The plan, he says, would do nothing to reduce the crippling congestion at LaGuardia. Instead, Schumer believes it furthers Blakey's ideological mission of privatization and supporting business over the public good, instead of sound policy.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?secti ... id=5481311

I agree, she needs to go

Hey you cannot keep everyone happy. I am sure he is trying to do everything he can wit the FAA to help air passengers experience less delays while traveling. The 3 major airports at NYC are huge in how many passengers go through. AT controllers experience a lot of stress on the job and should be thanked for since very few or none accidents have occured and that should be appreciated.
I just think Charles can't wait for the promblems to be solved.

Charles is generally an idiot and if anyones head should roll I wish it was his in most cases but in this instance I actually agree with him. We have major issues espesially with ATC and LGA is the worst of them all. The entire northeast needs to be restructured and not enough has happened. This has been on the table for over a decade. Some of the radar issues are fixed but most remain unresolved. LGA is experinceing issues worse than ever before. Taxi times for an airport that is a mile by a mile in size are routinely hitting two hours. We cannot get them in and out fast enough. I could go on and on and on about LGA though.