thedrifter
11-16-07, 07:12 AM
DoD opens unused airspace for holiday traffic
By Terence Hunt - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Nov 16, 2007 5:53:37 EST
WASHINGTON — Ahead of the holiday travel crunch, President Bush ordered steps Thursday to reduce air traffic congestion and long delays that have left passengers stranded.
The most significant change is that the Pentagon will open unused military airspace from Florida to Maine to create “a Thanksgiving express lane” for commercial airliners. It will be open next week for five days — Wednesday through Sunday — for the busiest days of Thanksgiving travel.
Bush said the problems with delayed flights are “clear to anybody who’s been traveling. Airports are very crowded. Travelers are being stranded and flights are delayed, sometimes with a full load of passengers sitting on the runway for hours.
“These failures carry some real costs for the country, not just in the inconvenience they cause but in the business they obstruct and the family gatherings they cause people to miss,” the president said. “We can do better.”
The new plan also will be in effect for the Christmas travel season.
But Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said there was “some very bad news for people who think there is going to be a quick cure to congestion.” He said that even if everything went smoothly, implementation of the next-generation air traffic control system that should reduce disruptions was at least 15 years off.
Ellie
By Terence Hunt - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Nov 16, 2007 5:53:37 EST
WASHINGTON — Ahead of the holiday travel crunch, President Bush ordered steps Thursday to reduce air traffic congestion and long delays that have left passengers stranded.
The most significant change is that the Pentagon will open unused military airspace from Florida to Maine to create “a Thanksgiving express lane” for commercial airliners. It will be open next week for five days — Wednesday through Sunday — for the busiest days of Thanksgiving travel.
Bush said the problems with delayed flights are “clear to anybody who’s been traveling. Airports are very crowded. Travelers are being stranded and flights are delayed, sometimes with a full load of passengers sitting on the runway for hours.
“These failures carry some real costs for the country, not just in the inconvenience they cause but in the business they obstruct and the family gatherings they cause people to miss,” the president said. “We can do better.”
The new plan also will be in effect for the Christmas travel season.
But Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said there was “some very bad news for people who think there is going to be a quick cure to congestion.” He said that even if everything went smoothly, implementation of the next-generation air traffic control system that should reduce disruptions was at least 15 years off.
Ellie