WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FAA has had its problems getting reauthorization on track.
To keep the agency in business, Congress has passed yet another temporary extension, something that has been going on for more than two years. Even some Senators are getting fed up with the delay, with 35 of them signing a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), urging him to move on FAA reauthorization.
Adding to these problems are the actions of a local government in New York State calling for even more delay in FAA reauthorization. On Dec. 15, the Rockland County Legislature passed a resolution urging the Congress to prevent fast tracking reauthorization as part of its fight to keep the FAA from redesigning the airspace in the New York City/Philadelphia area. The resolution received unanimous support from the legislature.
Rockland County is 12 miles north-northwest of New York City and residents complain that the proposed redesign of the airspace would increase aircraft noise from airports in the area, including LaGuardia, Newark, JFK, and Westchester. The county, along with some municipalities, is involved in litigation to prevent the airspace redesign. The suit was dismissed last June by the U.S. Court of Appeals, but in November attorneys petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Appeals Court decision.
The resolution was introduced by Chairwoman Harriet Cornell, who said the redesign plan is “fatally flawed, harmful to the public, to parkland and to the environment.” She added that before being allowed to move forward, the FAA needs to resolve present issues. “No allocations should be made toward airspace redesign while Rockland and other states and localities are in litigation to prevent the redesign,” she said.
The reauthorization bill now being held up in the Senate would authorize money for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), which includes about $90 million for the airspace redesign in the New York-Philadelphia area.
The FAA has been working on the airspace redesign for more than nine years. It has conducted studies and evaluations that cover an area of approximately 31,000 miles, which includes five states and 21 airports served by airlines. The change involves combining high and low airspace to provide more efficient arrival and departure routes.
Recent actions by the Rockland County Legislature reinforce that old saying that “nobody wants an airport near them, but everybody wants to be near an airport for travel.”
Charles Spence is GAN’s Washington, D.C., correspondent.
Charles, you have once again demonstrated that you and this website are little more than naked apologists for the aeromercs. Your article is inaccurate. Rockland County’s complaint is specific to Newark Liberty International Airport, and a new intended and ill-advised Runway #22 approach. That approach threatens southern Rockland County with 600 jumbo-jets per day, every 2.5 minutes, 40-80 decibels, less than 5,000 feet overhead. Moreover, your geography is preposterous. I live in the southernmost part of Rockland County and I am 30 miles from Newark airport. No, I don’t want to be near an airport to travel. I drive. It would be foolish to put my life in the hands of a current FAA, USDOT, and TSA that cannot even provide American citizens a basic modicum of security and safety.
The net sum of the Redesign is that it will squeeze general Aviation out of the skies in the busy Northeast. The FAA is unable to implement the redesign without reducing the Class B floor and greatly expanding Class B Airspace. This squeezes out Class G airspace.
Despite millions of taxpayer dollars spent by the FAA on this Northeast Airspace Redesign, they failed to achieve their objectives. The redesign does not solve flight delay and it does not safely increase volume of the airspace. The airspace redesign was initially meant to increase capacity and address age old flight patterns. The FAA contracted out the bulk of the work to Metron Aviation and MITRE Group, whereupon a black box was created.
Were the FAA to hire a bulk of new Air Traffic Controller to handle both commercial, regional and GA then GA would eventually benefit- (that is if they invest in the latest Suite of hardware and software to safely operate in this high volume Class B airspace).
But If the Redeisgn does continue, then GA pilots better get used to hearing “Permission Denied” from TRACON ATCs just about every time they try to enter Class B airspace to transverse a corridor which is normally open to GA.
Take Danbury Airport, for instance- where amazingly FAA decided to route all N22 arrivals into la Guardia directly over. “Permission Denied” will kill all travel to Nantucket if this redesign Goes through.
General Aviation has a real cause to be concerned about the New York New Jersey Pennsylvania Airspace Redesign because it works to gradually and effectively push General Aviation from the skies over the NorthEast. And this is only the beginning. It is the testbesd for the National Airspace Redesign where GA will be squeezed out across the USA.
I am suprised that GA has been so slow to discourage this airspace Redesign and accompanied Class B modifications- which AOPA sued over in Texas. Business Aviation is getting ready to take action against the FAA as well. Please read the latest AeroNews and AOPA article’s on what this Airspace Redesign really does to GA, and find out who is really behind the effort to squeeze out GA.