Hanscom News: Logan and Nationwide Air Traffic Problems

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Hanscom News: Nationwide and International Air Traffic Problems

12/23/2007 (via areco.org): Private jet travel soars still higher. The subprime crisis may be cutting a swathe through the banking community and threatening recession in America, but there is - so far - no sign of slackening in the recent extraordinary growth in private jet travel. According to Honeywell, the American aerospace company, almost 900 jets were delivered last year. This year the figure will rise to 1,000 and over the next decade Honeywell expects 14,000 new aircraft to come into service, the same number that are currently in the world's entire fleet. Despite some industry caution, a rapid growth in the number of high-net-worth individuals and a reluctance among some companies to see top executives tied up for hours at commercial airports makes a downturn anytime soon seem unlikely. "The whole tenor of the market has changed," said one charter broker. "We are now busy all the time, and it is increasingly difficult to find aircraft to meet demand."
3/24/04 USA Today: The more time short-hop air trips take, many business travelers say, the more attractive driving, teleconferencing, Webcasting and Amtrak become.
11/19/03 Globe, Herald, Globe, Herald: Massport will begin building a controversial runway at Logan Airport in the spring after a judge cleared the way by modifying a 1976 injunction. Runway opponents decried the ruling, citing potential increased air and noise pollution.
9/24/03 AP: A National Research Council report says cleaner, quieter aircraft are keys to increasing the system's capacity. Otherwise, it said, public objections to the noise and pollution caused by airplanes will limit airport growth.
7/21/03 Sierra Club: The FAA's new five year strategic plan is woefully inadequate regarding environmental concerns. Comments on this plan are due by August 5.
7/22/03 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Businesses are increasingly considering alternatives to air travel.
2/20/03 Economist: A report from the U.K. Institute for Public Policy Research, a leftish think-tank, says that if aviation was properly taxed and bore its full environmental costs, no airport expansion would be needed at all.
1/12/03 London Times: The UK government uses a 57db standard for assessing community impact from a proposed third runway at London's Heathrow airport. A former Aviation Minister says "the undoubted benefits [of expansion] have to be balanced against the environmental impact to a far greater extent than is already the case".
11/29/02 Express: Airlines should be charged for polluting the atmosphere and the money spent on more environmentally friendly means of transport, a British Royal Commission report says.
10/31/02: The increased damage to the environment caused by frequent air travel needs to be reflected in higher prices for tickets and an elimination of subsidies for jet fuel, says the German Environment Ministry.
8/16/02 Globe, Massport: Massport's latest effort to appease disgruntled neighbors of Logan Airport received a lukewarm reception yesterday as the authority unveiled a new Web site link designed to provide up-to-the-minute airport information on incoming and outbound flights.
8/8/02 Globe: Boston Mayor Menino continues to fight against the new runway at Logan and thinks that all corporate jet traffic should move out to Hanscom. The Globe thinks public money would be better spent reducing delays at Logan.
7/9/02 Inquirer: Companies large and small have stepped up their use of videoconferencing to replace routine meetings that once required air travel.
12/10/01 AviationWatch: A British citizen notes that expanded airline service unilaterally benefits passengers at the expense of people under the flight paths. Why don't we charge passengers a fee which would be paid as compensation to those impacted by the noise and pollution generated?
1/10/02 Common Cause: Scott Harshbarger describes how the aviation industry has used campaign contributions and their political influence to beat back aviation security measures and other pro-passenger legislation.
11/5/01 USA Today: Amid growing pressure for tighter airline and airport security, terrorism experts worry that the nation's fleet of 220,000 private planes remains easy prey for hijackers.
10/24/01 AFA: Flight attendants say that airlines' focus on profits and resistance to increased security has stopped the FAA from enacting recommendations, and thus even one month after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, flying is still not safe.
10/10/01 NY Times: Just one day after terrorists hijacked and crashed four commercial jets, lobbyists for the airline industry were already at work, laying the groundwork for a multibillion-dollar plan to rescue the industry.
8/22/01 WSJ: The Bush administration, in a surprise move that could rankle the major airlines, said it will consider encouraging airports to charge carriers a premium for scheduling flights at busy travel hours as a way to ease air-travel gridlock. The idea has been embraced by airport executives and some economists as a market-based way to get airlines to spread out the timing of flights at crowded hubs.
8/8/01 NY Times: Delta Airlines argues that we need to build 50 miles of new runways to handle the > 50% increase in passengers traffic expected by 2010. Many readers disagreed, suggesting that improving rail service, integrating it more into airport networks, and improving overall transportation planning would reduce air traffic jams without expanding airports.
7/27/01 Letter to President, from a group that is fighting the expansion of a GA airport in Minnesota. Most of is devoted to the broad arguments against aviation expansion and in favor of intermodal transportation solutions, but part of it specifically addresses the current push to expand GA reliever airports.
7/26/01 NY Times: New government figures show that flight delays eased markedly in the second quarter of this year, but the airlines and air traffic controllers, describing passengers as still unhappy, will open a campaign on Thursday to build public support for new runways and other improvements.
6/20/01 Herald: A plan to charge airlines more money to use Logan International Airport at peak hours includes a ``poison pill'' exemption that's almost certain to render the proposal inoperative, sources say.
5/7/01 Time Magazine: Columnist Lance Morrow argues that the FAA is doing a lousy job of controlling the increase in airplane noise and pollution.
5/24/01 Globe: Massport's Virginia Buckingham pushes for the idea of putting deadlines on new runway evaluations.
4/27/01 Globe: Scott LeHigh again argues for peak period pricing at Logan.
4/26/01 NY Times: A new FAA study shows that 8 airports, including Logan, cannot possibly stay on schedule during bad weather. Some blame airlines for overscheduling, others antiquated infrastructure. The Globe article adds considerable detail about Logan's capacity. The Runway Coalition, led by Massport's Virginia Buckingham, says this study supports the argument for building more runways.
4/25/01 CAWA: The Citizens Aviation Watch Association argues that peak period pricing may have detrimental effects such as increasing the number of flights and pushing air traffic into evening and late night hours. Instead they argue that flight caps and lotteries are a better answer to congestion problems.
4/6/01 Globe: Globe staff writer Scott LeHigh suggests that peak period pricing might be a more effective way to relieve congestion at Logan than a new runway, by encouraging airlines to use fewer, bigger planes.

�ShhAir 2000
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