November 19, 2009
The Honorable Ray LaHood
Secretary
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave. SE
Washington, DC 20590
Dear Secretary LaHood,
We the undersigned applaud your most important leadership in forming the Federal Advisory Committee on the Future of Aviation. Never has the future of U.S. commercial aviation been so threatened, or has there been so much at stake. However, the initiative risks failure if it proceeds, as many previous commissions have, in the absence of well-debated and agreed upon objectives for U.S. national transportation and air transportation policies.
You asked for suggestions regarding the top five problems facing the industry. The über problem from which virtually every other major industry difficulty subsequently flows is that the U.S. has never had a coherent national air transportation policy that has been updated over time. What’s more, one cannot select the right problems to address, or adequately evaluate solutions, unless policy objectives are set forth in a clear manner.
When initiatives such as the 1993 Baliles Commission fail to produce desired changes, some voice frustration, but fail to ask why. Recommendations are transmitted to Congress where a policy-framework to evaluate and support adoption of proposals is virtually nonexistent. What’s more, vested interests, including some represented on these commissions, work to ensure that nothing comes of recommendations.
As noted during the forum last week, 16 years after the Baliles Commission most problems facing the airline industry remain. We now run the risk of a more damaging repeat of this outcome. If in 16 years, in 2025, the destination for aviation is essentially 1993 with the same unsolved problems that Governor Baliles wrestled with, then we will have a disaster on our hands.
We deregulated 31 years ago but never had an adequate debate regarding public policy objectives and desired outcomes. Instead of a coherent air transportation policy we have a patchwork of legislative and regulatory prescriptions that are a consequence of lurching from crisis to crisis.
We need to develop public-policy objectives and a framework for effective analysis and oversight such that it does not take a tragedy outside Buffalo to recognize a flawed regional airline business model. Or, to identify that there is significant safety and security risk when U.S. aircraft are sent to third-world countries to be overhauled by workers whose backgrounds cannot be verified, who are not tested for drugs and alcohol, who rely on pictures in manufacturers’ manuals to perform repairs because they cannot read detailed English instructions and whose oversight by FAA and TSA is uneven, or non-existent.
We urge you Secretary LaHood to allocate the first 2 months of the committee’s efforts to debating and building consensus around transportation and air transportation public-policy objectives. Importantly, we recommend that the process be transparent and open to the press, as the Baliles Commission was. Let’s take advantage of the crisis gripping the airline industry to forge a future that truly strengthens U.S. travel and tourism as well as our economy, workforce, way of life and position in international aviation.
Sincerely,
American Society of Travel Agents
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Business Travel Coalition
Aerospace States Association
Consumer Travel Alliance
Travel Management Alliance
International Association of Exhibitions and Events
Association of Retail Travel Agents
Advanced Travel Partners
The Travel Team, Inc.
Austin Travel
Balboa Travel Management
Eaton Corporation
HealthCare California
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Lowe's Companies, Inc.
Sapient
Trondent Development Corp.
Zetron, Inc.
Quad City International Airport
Northern Kentucky C.V.B.
AAA Tidewater Virginia
Aladdin Travel & Meeting Planners
Aviation Innovation, LLC
Blake Associates
Caldwell Travel, Inc.
Chase & Associates
CI Travel
Clear Sky Associates
Consulting Strategies
Cresta World Travel Ltd
El Sol Travel
FLO Corporation
Fox World Travel
Geraci Travel
Global Crew Logistics
Gwins Travel
Hess Corporate Travel
HMS Travel Group
HOFT Institute
HySecurity
Indian Trails Inc.
John S. Stow Consulting, LLC
Life Therapeutics
LT Venntures, Inc.
LXR Travel LLC
Madison Emergency Physicians
MMI International
PAR Travel Tech, Inc.
Richcreek Vacation Center
Robert P. Schron Associates Ltd.
Sprayberry Travel
Sun Travel, Inc.
Sunbelt Rentals Inc
The Westin Stonebriar and Sheraton Stonebriar Hotels
Travel Management Partners
TRAVEL WITH KAL
Unlimited Travel Solutions Inc.
Wyndham Boston Andover Hotel
Academic Travel Consulting