Alfred Kahn, the eminent economist and chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board who oversaw airline deregulation in the 1970s, has published a fascinating new working paper on the AEI Reg-Markets Center site. He addresses the difference between “liberal” and “progressive” views on economic policy and regulation, and he argues that “progressivism” as defined by those [...]
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As of March 5, according to new International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) rules, English proficiency is now be the required of all pilots and air traffic controllers. In the past, controllers and pilots could communicate in a local language if both spoke it, even though English was the most common standard. More than anything else, [...]
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Air traffic control commercialization can change the incentives in the ATC system, Eugene Hoeven (pictured at right) said during a panel discussion last Wednesday, leading to dramatic improvements in the industry. Hoeven, the director for ICAO affairs of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO), the trade association for air naviation service providers (ANSP), spoke [...]
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Posted in Evan's Commentary, tagged air traffic control, competition, congress, consumer advocacy, delays, faa, mergers, regulation, safety on February 7, 2008 | No Comments »
FAA administrator-designate (and current acting administrator) Robert “Bobby” Sturgell faced the Senate Commerce Committee for his confirmation hearing today, fielding harangues and questions from skeptical senators but offering little in the way of changes he would make at the FAA.
Sturgell is a former naval aviator (and Top Gun instructor), commercial airline pilot, aviation lawyer, and [...]
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Whoa, things are moving fast! New Jersey senators Frank Lautenberg and Bob Menendez put a hold on FAA administrator-designate Robert Sturgell’s nomination this afternoon, just a few hours after Lautenberg had a couple testy exchanges with Sturgell during the latter’s confirmation hearing. Locals are upset over the planned redesign of the New York/New Jersey airspace. [...]
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Today I went to the confirmation hearing for Robert Sturgell, the acting administrator and administrator-designate of the Federal Aviation Administration. He received a tense reception by the committee, members of which berated him (rightly or wrongly) over air traffic controller morale and retirements, a passenger’s bill of rights, NextGen and air traffic control modernization, redesign [...]
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I’d like to plug an upcoming conference that Jurgen Reinhoudt, a colleague of mine at the American Enterprise Institute, is helping to organize. Speakers at the February 20 event will address ways in which Western European economies, often thought to be stagnant and hidebound, are implementing effective market-based reforms in areas like pensions, energy, and [...]
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From the comments on this post: there’s a vigorous debate going on about whether some form of congestion would really reduce delays, given that flight schedules (for business travelers at rush or for international flights connecting to overseas hub banks at planned times) are not easily adjusted. But there’s another point I want to bring [...]
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Very exciting news yesterday: the FAA has proposed amendments to a rule that will allow the most congested airports to adopt a modified form of congestion pricing. (You can–and should–read the full filing at regulations.gov and my take on congestion pricing at American.com.) I spent the evening reading over the rule, and I think it’s [...]
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The federal government has reached an agreement to cap flights at JFK. Here is the press release announcing the agreement. Let’s take a look at what the government is doing:
U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters today announced new measures to reduce airline delays over the holiday season and new actions designed to reduce [...]
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