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Continental Airlines Supports Port Authority’s Opposition to Auctions of Flight Operations at Newark Liberty International Airport

Written by thomas · Filed Under Commercial 

August 4, 2008

thomas

NEWARK, N.J., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Continental Airlines
(NYSE: CAL) stated today that it shares the serious concerns raised today
by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey regarding the U.S.
Department of Transportation’s continuing efforts to auction rights to
conduct additional flight operations at the New York/New Jersey airports.
These auctions would add even more flights to airports and airspace which
are already experiencing significant delays. The DOT’s attempt to add more
flights into the nation’s most congested and delayed airports is baffling,
given the increased delays at the New York airports and particularly at
Newark Liberty.

At the federal government’s request earlier this year, Continental gave
up flights in the peak hours at Liberty to assist the FAA in imposing caps
on flight operations at Liberty and reducing these unacceptable delays.
Despite the caps and Continental’s reduction of flights during the peak
hours, delays at Liberty since the introduction of the caps have actually
increased.

Continental shares the Port Authority’s view that the DOT should
abandon its fixation with auctions, as auctions are simply another tax on
an already overburdened and financially fragile industry. The DOT should
instead focus on modernizing the air traffic control system to increase the
capacity of the New York/New Jersey airspace.

“Every day, huge amounts of fuel are wastefully burned and thousands of
passengers are inconvenienced due to delays and congestion at Liberty and
in the New York airspace,” said a Continental spokesperson. “Auctions of
flight operations are nothing more than an illegal taking and a disguised
tax, and will do nothing to reduce delays and congestion.”

Newark Liberty has the potential to operate at higher volumes, but only
if the Administration and Congress can make meaningful progress in funding
and implementing new-technology air traffic control systems.

Continental has taken many steps to cope with operating a major hub in
the midst of the nation’s most congested airspace. Continental removed
flights from the peak hours and smoothed them into other hours of operation
to reduce the surges of flights that can clog the airport and airspace.
Continental also implemented customer service programs to limit long taxi
delays and to assist travelers who are affected by them. It is also
installing a new real-time ground-traffic monitoring system to help
optimize the positioning and movement of Continental aircraft on the
ground.

Despite Continental’s efforts and the FAA imposed flight operation caps
at Newark Liberty, delays have increased during peak hours and passengers
have suffered because of the federal government’s failure to modernize the
air traffic control infrastructure.

Continental will continue to work with the Port Authority, the DOT, the
FAA and all the other parties who have a stake in this process to improve
the capacity and reduce the congestion of Newark Liberty and the New York
airspace.

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