Aviation Conspiracy Newsletter #461........................................................................December 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

Quote of the Week:  "Rockland County, NY citizens today thanked the Senate for sagaciously slamming the brakes on Robert A. “Bobby” Sturgell’s quest for fast-track confirmation as would-be FAA Administrator." from a story this week on FAA Airspace Redesign scheme

Is Acting FAA Chief Sturgell's Confirmation Dead?

As Bill Sees It (Editorial):  Will FAA "Acting" Administrator Sturgell Start Paying Attention To FAA Victims Now? It looks as if "acting" FAA administrator Sturgell (picture below left) won't be getting his 5-year tenured job as FAA boss... at least until the congress reconvenes after the Christmas holidays. As we all know FAA bosses are chosen for their manager jobs only after they have proven their contempt for the public and subservience to the airline industry. This same industry eventually rewards the FAA bosses for their loyalty with a big job after they retire from "public" service. Of course that all depends on the FAA position. If Sturgell doesn't get the FAA administrator's job he can still work for the airline industry; although it might only be in the mail room. Hillary And Schumer Quiet On Airspace Redesign Scheme!!! It's interesting how New York's senators, Schumer and Clinton, haven't said a word about the airspace change. No doubt this is because they have gotten their favored communities, like Lawrence, Long Island, protection continued. These two senators may find that dumped-on New York communities, like Rockland County, might not forget their silence next senatorial election day after the jets have been ruining residents sleep for a few years. Senator Schumer Fools The Public Again With Helicopter Noise Agreement: "Chuck" Schumer is up to his old tricks again. He is using the old favorite democrat trick of promoting himself as being concerned about helicopter noise in Long Island while in reality being one of the chief architects of aviation expansion. This time he gets free press promotion portraying him as being responsible for brokering a "deal" between communities, airport and helicopter companies to reroute helicopters over "unpopulated" areas. I wonder where those areas are in densely populated Long Island, New York? It wasn't mentioned where the new routes are. No doubt Schumer will get help from his friends in the FAA who are very good at finding reasons to dump aviation noise on unsuspecting victims, usually the poor, minority and politically powerless. Chuck will never say one word about fairly sharing aviation noise impacts by scientific analysis. That's because he has politically connected communities that he made sure the FAA continued the protection of in new Airspace Redesign scheme for the northeastern states.

Acting FAA Administrator Sturgell's Nomination "Held Up!!!" The confirmation of Acting FAA Administrator Robert "Bobby" Sturgell, who seemed like a shoo-in when President Bush nominated him in October to take on the administrator job for the next five years, now is encountering political turbulence. Powerful members of Congress from the Northeast are saying they will oppose the appointment unless Sturgell agrees to revisit plans for the ongoing redesign of the region's congested airspace. The nomination was scheduled for review last week but now has been postponed until after the Congressional recess. Committee spokesmen denied any political motive to the postponement, saying they simply ran out of time. Former Administrator Marion Blakey, now president of the Aerospace Industries Association, expressed concern over the delay. "It is critical for the continued smooth operation of our nation's air transportation system to have a person confirmed and appointed for a five-year term as soon as possible," she said in a statement. http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/CongressInConflictOverConfirmingFAAAdministrator_196833-1.html 

Senator Schumer Fools The Public Again With Helicopter Noise Agreement: This summer (May-August), Gabreski Airport saw 1,948 helicopter operations compared to 1,416 during the same period last year, an increase of 35.7 percent. East Hampton saw helicopter flights increase 15 percent this summer. Schumer's office has received at least 75 calls this year from constituents as well as calls from elected officials reporting hundreds of calls their offices have received. Last year, East Hampton Airport received 4,000 complaint calls, of which, 3,000 were for helicopter noise. Gabreski has sent out 79 letters to helicopter companies asking their cooperation with the airport's voluntary noise abatement procedures. In October 2007, Schumer convened a first-ever meeting of helicopter pilots, airport personnel and the FAA to devise a plan to reduce helicopter noise. At Schumer's urging, the FAA created a new noise abatement route to divert pre-existing North Shore traffic miles away from land, over water and at a recommended altitude of at least 2,500 feet. This plan will go into effect next summer. Editor's Note: I wonder what "non-residential" communities these helicopters will go over before they get over water. Has there been an environmental impact study done to assess the impacts of the new route? http://www.antonnews.com/gardencitylife/2007/12/28/news/helicopternoise.html Howard Beckman's Comment On Schumer's Helicopter "Deal:" (From Mr. Beckman's email) "First, there's nothing "landmark" about this agreement. Such "agreements" over voluntary flying practice are produced all the time at airports throughout the country. (I put "agreement" in quotes b/c these aren't enforceable agreements.) Without the *active* participation of air traffic controllers, usually achieved through a "letter of agreement" between the FAA and an airport, these voluntary programs are worthless. Any relief depends entirely on the vigilance of surrounding residents, who must document and report violations, and then aggressive jawboning with helicopter pilots by airport officials. Eventually residents get tired of this "game"." California Anti-SLAPP Project (www.casp.net) Airport Noise Law (AirportNoiseLaw. org)

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                                                    Important Aviation News Stories This Week

 

Legislation to reduce flight delays in New York/New Jersey airspace region signed
 

http://www.empirestatenews.net/News/20071228-2.html

Washington – New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania’s U.S. senators Thursday announced that the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill signed into law by the President Wednesday includes two measures they authored to reduce flight delays and ease congestion in the New York/New Jersey airspace. One amendment requires the federal government to provide a plan to Congress to reduce flight delays in the New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania Region, the nation’s most densely congested airspace. The other amendment requires the investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, to investigate the Administration’s Airspace Redesign Plan, as well as the effectiveness of a variety of approaches used nationwide to reduce flight delays.

The Senators called for action after record airport delays this summer and amid major concerns that the Federal Aviation Administration’s announced Airspace Redesign for the New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia area will increase aircraft noise while providing only minimal delay reductions.

The amendment requires the Transportation Department to submit to Congress a report detailing how the Federal Aviation Administration plans to alleviate air congestion and flight delays in the New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia Airspace by August 31, 2008. The report would have to be submitted no later than 120 days after the enactment of the legislation.

The measure directs the GAO to conduct a study of the efficacy of various approaches used in the past by the FAA and the DOT to address delays at our nation's airports. Within 120 days of enactment, the GAO is to report which strategies have worked best to comprehensively reduce flight delays at an airport within SIX months or less. The GAO is instructed to examine efforts by the FAA to induce voluntary schedule reductions at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the FAA's mandatory flight reduction operations at LaGuardia International Airport and Reagan National Airport, the New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia Metropolitan Area Airspace Redesign and any other significant efforts by the FAA or the DOT to reduce flight delays at a major U.S. international airport.