Quote of the Week: "One of the reasons … airline passengers are being so inconvenienced is because the skies are too crowded" more words of wisdom by "our" own President Moronic Polluter who says he is going to fix the airline delay problem
Aviation Conspiracy Newsletter #448.............................................................................September 30, 2007 Past newsletters can be accessed at: http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/ACNewsmenu.htm The PASSUR airport flight tracking system at many major U.S. airports http://www.passur.com/sites.htm (you must have Java installed to view it). If you want to get the newsletter sent to you every week, sign up to AviationWatch. Bill Mulcahy rockaway@prodigy.net
Bush To Fix Airport Mess!!!
As
Bill Sees It (Editorial): Flight Caps And
"Congestion Pricing" Now Being Considered To Reduce Congestion!!!
"Our" government created the problem by allowing airlines a 
free
hand to overbook flights and squeeze too many flights into the air; now they say
they are
going to fix the problem. I remember that flight caps was the thing that Senator Schumer helped remove at N.Y.
City and other major U.S. airports which increased the noise and air pollution
over local communities. Now these same "flight caps" are being talked about
as being needed to be restored to reduce delays!!! Congestion pricing is new to
me, but it appears to mean that there will be higher costs to fly at
"peak" hours. Is this another gift to the airline industry
which loves to manipulate prices? Most probably it is a new way of
expanding airport night flights by making them cheaper for air travelers. Congestion
pricing seemed to have failed when it was recently tried (and failed) to be
applied to cars using midtown Manhattan. I believe it will also fail with
aviation. If our corporate-bought, corrupt government and the greedy aviation industry
cared
about
the public in the air and on the ground they would restore flight caps, not only at major
airports, but all
U.S. airports. But that has a slim chance with politicians (republican and
democrat) who have a "growth is good" mindset to aviation (and
everything else) no matter
what the increased environmental and health impacts. Bush
Says He Will Fix Airport Mess!!! President Moron is in charge so we know that
everything will be alright. He did such a great job finding Osama Bin Laden,
bringing democracy to Iraq and helping the Hurricane Katrina victims. Personally
I love delayed flights and would like to see them delayed to the point that they
didn't take off at all. I am tired of politicians and the FAA getting away
with promoting increased noise and air pollution from
aviation expansion
as "progress" and "improvements."
Phony Airline Passenger Organization Head Appointed By DOT As Passenger's Representative
On "Airline Rulemaking Committee"!!!
Once again the Bush Administration proves they are the enemy of the American
public. Rather than appoint a real advocate for airline passengers, like the 
originator of the Passenger Bill of
Rights, Kate Hanni (picture on the lower left), Department of Transportation
secretary Mary Peters appointed DAVID STEPLER (picture on the left) to represent
airline passengers on the newly formed "Airline Rulemaking Committee."
I say Stempler's organization is not a real passenger's
organization because if you check out their web
site you will see that they mostly involved with booking flights, selling
insurance and renting cars and hotel rooms. They have very little to do with
organizing airline passengers to fight for their rights. Stempler himself is an aviation
attorney and has been president of two regional airlines and a senior vice
president of a jet charter company. Stempler, who strongly opposes
an airline passenger bill of rights is regularly trotted out to represent
the airline passengers to the media, while the real passenger 
advocate, Kate
Hanni, is rarely seen on TV. You would think even the media would get tired of this
subterfuge and expose it, but I'm sure they think of those nice airline ad
dollars they get first.
Hanni is the airline industry's worse nightmare. I only wish the Aviation
Cabal's victims on the ground had someone like her to represent us!!! Connecticut
Towns Unite In Airspace Redesign Lawsuit!!! I now see why Connecticut
was left out of the title the New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania Airspace
Redesign Plan. The FAA wanted the Connecticut victims to think that they
wouldn't be getting any the Airspace Redesign aircraft noise increase!!! Apparently
they were not fooled, as many of the towns affected are joining forces in
preparing a lawsuit against the FAA. If these towns were smart they would
join forces with Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey communities that are also
suing the FAA. THAT kind of coalition has a much better chance of success
and is the kind of thing the FAA, the airlines and their paid political stooges
most fear. Press
Briefing by Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, Acting FAA Administrator
Bobby Sturgell, and White House Domestic Policy Council Deputy Director Jess
Sharp on Aviation Congestion Announcement:
Bush
To Fix Airport Mess!!! President Bush today launched a series of changes designed to cut air traffic
congestion and flight delays by easing a bottleneck in New York before next
summer and tightening consumer protections. Under new orders from the president
to improve record air traffic and delays, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters
(pictured with Bush and acting FAA administrator at left) has convened a panel (read discussion below) of airline, airport and travel officials to recommend
changes by the end of the year. The president wants the changes in effect in
time to ease congestion for consumers by next summer's busy travel season.
"In some cases, they're just not being treated fairly. And there's a
lot of anger amongst our citizens about the fact that, you know, they're just
not being treated right," Bush told reporters in the Oval Office. "One
of the reasons … airline passengers are being so inconvenienced is because the
skies are too crowded." Editor's Note: I'm sure that airline passengers
can rest easy knowing Bush is taking care of the problem. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hdecIxr36gJAOMxcyPEEeiQwo2Yg
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/transportation/ny-usfaa285392946sep28,0,1189006.story
Connecticut
Towns Joining Forces
To Stop FAA Airspace Redesign Scheme: Area
towns are joining forces to oppose the Federal Aviation Administration’s
proposed flight plan redesign. First Selectman Judy Neville hosted a meeting of
leaders from Greenwich, Wilton, Darien, Redding, Weston, Ridgefield, Norwalk,
Stamford and Pound Ridge, N.Y , Tuesday, September 25. Those leaders agreed to
meet again Tuesday, October 2, to interview law firms in preparation for a legal
challenge to the FAA. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal also attended the
meeting. “The good news is all nine towns agree it’s a regional issue,”
Ms. Neville said Wednesday. In addition to attorneys, Ms. Neville is also
talking to lobbyists and a “grass roots PR firm” in Washington, D.C., in the
campaign to stop the FAA plan. Also in Washington, Fourth District U.S. Rep.
Christopher Shays joined Rep. Scott Garrett and Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen of New
Jersey to offer an amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Act that requires the
Government Accountability Office to investigate using “market-based strategies
for air congestion reduction as an alternative to the FAA Airspace Redesign
plan.” The amendment, designed to evaluate the FAA’s claim that the airspace
redesign is the only solution to reduce congestion at these airports, passed the
House by voice vote. A goal of the amendment is to encourage off-peak air
travel. Petitions continue to be circulated around New Canaan, most notably by
12-year-old Jordan Cerbone. http://www.acorn-online.com/news/publish/newcanaan/23247.shtml
Kate Hanni: ‘The Ralph Nader of the Skies’:
Kate
Hanni (pictured) is the
founder of the Coalition
for an Airline Passengers Bill of Rights, and she’s so committed to
federal legislation in support of air travelers that she quit her job and took
out a $200,000 line of credit on the California home she owns with her husband
to spearhead the fight, according to a new
profile of her by Joe Sharkey for Portfolio.com. She did so after being
stuck in an American Airlines plane on the tarmac in Austin, Texas, for nine
hours last December in one of several well-publicized stranding
incidents.Sharkey writes:The group’s success (it now has 17,000 members) has
been helped by fury over the extraordinary number of planes stranded this year
at domestic airports, as unprecedented travel demand smacked headfirst into
reduced airline capacity, record delays and cancellations, and schedules that no
longer have slack built in to accommodate even routine weather disruptions. http://www.worldhum.com/weblog/item/kate_hanni_the_ralph_nader_of_the_skies_20070920/
Thailand:
Airport residents to
boost pressure if noise problem unimproved
Schumer
To Meet With Community About Excessive Copter Noise On Long Island, NY: Craig Cooper said he moved
his family from Baldwin to Smithtown two years ago in hopes of finding "a
more serene place to live," away from congested streets and skies filled
with noisy airliners headed for Kennedy Airport. No such luck. "We
traded being in the landing 
pattern
of JFK, where we had 747s flying over our head, to being in the flight patterns
of helicopters flying a thousand feet over our head on their way to the Hamptons,"
said Cooper, 53, a video producer. Some relief may finally be in store for
Cooper and thousands of other Long Islanders who have made noise complaints
about low-flying helicopters ferrying the gentry from New York City out east.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said yesterday that he would host a meeting
tomorrow bringing together Federal Aviation Administration brass, major
helicopter operators and managers of the East End airports. "It's as bad as
ever, from Floral Park all the way to the East End," Schumer said of
helicopter noise. "We're bringing people together to find a solution."
Editor's Note: Knowing Schumer, he was probably responsible for bringing
in the helicopter flights in the first place!!! http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-liheli0930,0,5782287.story?coll=ny_home_rail_headlines
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Important Aviation News Stories This Week
Monday,
September 24, 2007
Noise near Stewart may
grow
No plans in works to alter takeoff and landing paths
|
Airplane noise in the mid-Hudson appears likely to change in the years ahead, but it's a mixed bag as to how. |
|
On one hand, the potential growth of Stewart International Airport in New Windsor poses the prospect of more planes. More flights will mean more service for travelers, but more noise for neighbors. |
|
On the other hand, a new “airspace redesign” will route aircraft that use the four big airports in or near New York City, shifting many “overflight” routes away from Dutchess and Ulster counties and shrinking others, thus reducing noise and pollution. The Federal Aviation Administration said this will reduce delays, congestion and pollution and cope with rising passenger volumes. |
|
A third source of air noise is the smaller facilities such as Dutchess County Airport and private strips; and helicopters, which don't always need airports. Small airports and aircraft are not in the airspace study. However, these craft may generate noise near the airports. |
|
The new Stewart managers, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, hope to grow Stewart to take some pressure off their four overcrowded and delay-prone major airports to the south, which last year recorded more than 1.4 million landings or takeoffs. Stewart has had 62,169 in the first eight months of this year, up 8 percent from the same period in 2006. |
|
“The planes that annoy me are the ones landing at Stewart,” Town of Fishkill resident Rose Miller said. She sees them descending over her home on a beeline for Stewart. |
|
Officials at the Federal Aviation Administration said there are no plans to change any routing of planes to or from Stewart, so the future is fairly simple to divine: If you get Stewart noise now, you'll probably get it more often if usage of Stewart grows. If you don't get it, you probably won't. |
|
As to the overflights and the airspace redesign, the news is mostly good for the region. These are high-flying routes used by large planes heading into John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and Teterboro Airport. |
|
The airspace redesign that took nine years of study of a 21-airport region from New York to Philadelphia was approved by Sept. 5 by the aviation agency. It eliminates JFK and LaGuardia inflows from the Dutchess and Ulster airspace, shifting them south and east, respectively. Teterboro flows, mostly corporate jets, remain the same, broadly spread over Dutchess and Ulster. |
|
Newark-bound planes will continue to sweep east-west over mid-Dutchess and south over two paths above Ulster. However, those paths have been greatly narrowed in the new plan. And, FAA officials said, all the overflights will be about 2,000 feet higher, reducing noise. A plane's altitude in an overflight varies, but they typically are at 10,000 to 16,000 feet, or two to three miles high, as they cross the area now, said Jim Peters, an FAAspokesman. |
|
More flights will go over Rockland County, whose residents and officials have loudly protested and even gotten some legislation started. Rep. Eliot Engel, D-Bronx, introduced a bill that passed the House of Representatives calling for an independent study to determine if the agency's controversial airspace redesign plan would actually accomplish what it set out to do. |
|
Because they're already several thousand feet high, the overflights tend not to be as annoying as close-in traffic near an airport. But they do matter, if you ask Maureen Radl, head of Ulsterites Fight Overflights. She also speaks for a coalition of environmental groups who've urged the Port Authority to listen to local concerns about the effects of Stewart development. |
|
“Ulster County has been dealing with flights that are problematic for quite a while,” Radl said. In the high mountainous area of Ulster, people are closer to the planes and find their noise stands out in the wooded quiet of the Shawangunks. |
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The airspace redesign doesn't affect Stewart, said Steve Kelley, manager of the program for the FAA. |
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“Arrival and departure operations at Stewart right now run predominantly east and west so it can operate independently of the metropolitan New York airports,” he said. |
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According to FAA spokes-man Peters, the redesign will be implemented beginning shortly and in phases over a period of years. |
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Richard Butensky of Cold Spring says he doesn't worry about the overflights. “Usually, they're pretty high up,” he said. |
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But he has complained to Stewart officials about the noise he gets in his Highlands area home near the Hudson River, and been told by them that what he sees is probably the normal small-plane traffic up and down the Hudson River. |
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“It's the small craft, really,” Butesnky said. “They're flying low, they're constant, they're noisy — the helicopters and the turboprops. You hear them coming from miles away.” |
Reach Craig Wolf at cwolf@poughkeepsiejournal.com or 845-437-4815.
