JetBlue: NY Flight Caps A Short-Term Step

By Annette Santiago

The flight caps set to take effect at New York Kennedy Airport this week will go a long way toward reducing the delays and congestion that plagued the airport last summer, but they can only be a temporary solution, JetBlue believes.

The caps, and the 17 airport and airspace operational improvements (DAILY, Feb. 14) to be rolled out over summer in the New York area, will be a great Band-Aid and result in some improvements from last summer, JetBlue Senior VP-Government Affairs Rob Land told audience members at the March 20 Wings Club luncheon in New York. However, "the real answer is Congress acting" to accelerate ATC modernization, Land stressed.

Crucial Compromise

The airline recently spoke with members of the House aviation subcommittee and urged them to work with the Senate to come up with a compromise on crucial FAA reauthorization legislation, Land said.

"The status quo is unacceptable: The Band-Aids, they'll work the summer. They may work next summer." But the trend of increasing traffic "means the Band-Aids won't work forever," Land said.

JetBlue is not a fan of another solution being floated - congestion pricing. "There's no magic science to it. Another fee, another rate hike, another tax, another couple pounds equal a couple more dollars, fund this airport to fund another airport ... That doesn't do anything in and of itself to increase capacity," Land said, while noting that JetBlue does support "rational scheduling.