On Giving Thanks and Thinking Turkeys …
… amidst an aviation industry swelling at the seams.
We live in an era when aviation is thriving, for which many, particularly the airlines, are thankful. Yet the turkey at the table is a system that has not kept pace. New York’s JFK has become the poster airport for delays. Ironically, it is a domestic carrier, JetBlue, that has had a dramatic impact on JFK, which is one of the nation’s key international gateways. The feds want to regulate use to reduce the delays; the airlines and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey are balking. The head of Delta squawks that at a time when the carrier is having particular success growing internationally, the feds want to restrict its ability to expand at JFK. At the same time, they are not asking international carriers to do the same.
Another element of the system that has grown into a major turkey for which there is no thanks is the inability of U.S. Customs & Border Protection to process international arrivals and departures. For many airports, this is the turkey at the head of the table. It ties directly to the security regimen we have put in place in this country since 9/11, which many consider another turkey. The system is safer to be sure, but it remains questionable whether or not we had to create another instant bureaucracy to achieve the goal. That said, the biggest turkey at the security table remains the U.S. Congress, which in six years has failed to fund the initiatives it called for in legislation in November, 2001.
Perhaps the aviation segment that has the most to be thankful for is business aviation, which remains robust. Despite a slowing economy, it has yet to experience even a hiccup. It is also a dramatically changing segment with the massive influx of offshore money into the business. Australian and British firms now own the largest chains of fixed base operations, and a Dubai enterprise has become a dominant player in the maintenance arena literally overnight. As one looks at the bizav table, it’s hard to see a turkey this Thanksgiving. But there’s a rumor that Mr. Recession has been invited to the dinner …
Thanks for reading.
jfi
John, your are correct about the “robust” aviation industry and there appears to be no end in sight for where it is headed. However, major clouds loom ahead that could force a serious course change, if we do not do something in advance.
First, the number of licensed pilots and mechanics graduating from schools is not keeping up with demand, as operations expand and people retire.
Second, there is a major effort by airport sponsors, that receive federal & state funding, to obstruct private sector investment in their airports. This obstructive behaviour from bureaucrats is pure politics and can be in the form of land banking to outright fraud and misuse of public property. This effort to block private investment, even though private facilities revert to the airport sponsors after the initial lease, is one of the worse example of abuse and lack of respect for avition that can be found. It will result in poorly built, poorly managed and poorly planned facilities across the country at a time when we need to pulling out all the stops to get things done.
Third, user fee promotion and the outright demeaning of private/business aviation by the scheduled air carriers is nothing short of blasphemy and self-serving behavior by an industry segment unable to correctly manage itself and make proper business decisions. The general public is being feed horse droppings by the airlines in advertising and editorials in on board magazines. This is creating untruths that will haunt everyone when it comes times for airport expansion, construction or improvement at any airport not calssified as an “air carrier” airport. When you consider the fact that there some 7,000 public airports and only some 600 air carrier airports in the U.S. today, this makes for a frightening outcome for those folks that see aviation as a bright future.
Keep up the great work!
Bob Brewster