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August 26, 1999, THURSDAY, Late Sports Final Edition

SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. 37

LENGTH: 414 words

HEADLINE: Improve air traffic

BYLINE: Editorials

BODY:
Reports of long flight delays at Chicago airports provide a snapshot of what is in store for air travelers unless fundamental changes are made in the Federal Aviation Administration's training and budget procedures.

Chicago Aviation Commissioner Mary Rose Loney called the decline in on-time performance at O'Hare and Midway alarming. Her description is appropriate since the U.S. Transportation Department has reported that the two airports had some of the worst on-time arrivals and departures among 29 major cities during the first half of this year. Loney blamed the delays on problems beyond Chicago's control -- the January snowstorm, the American Airline pilots' sickout in February and a work slowdown in June caused by fumes in the air control tower in Aurora -- and FAA issues that Washington can fix. Loney suggested that better coordination of equipment purchases and faster training of air traffic controllers would speed things up, and we agree. New software is available to help air traffic controllers at O'Hare more efficiently manage airspace, but it will not be installed at O'Hare until June, and there is no funding for training. A computer system for assigning departures at Detroit Airport has reduced departure delays there; yet the FAA has no money to expand this worthwhile system to Chicago or other cities.

And no wonder, since financing for the FAA needs an overhaul. Taxes collected from airport users are supposed to go into a trust fund and be used for airport services and infrastructure improvements. But like the Social Security trust fund, the aviation trust fund is considered part of the general revenue. That must change: The trust fund must be separated from the federal budget. For now, the FAA budget is held hostage while Democrats and Republicans wrangle over how to spend the projected $ 3 trillion surplus.

The solution to this fickle funding is AIR21, the Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century. The bill calls for a five-year budget that will enable long-term planning and provide funds to hire and train air traffic controllers, technicians and safety inspectors. It also would provide money for high-priority items, such as replacing land-based navigation equipment with more accurate global positioning systems that use satellites -- a technology that is already offered as an option in new cars. These changes should reduce air traffic gridlock and improve passenger safety and convenience.

LOAD-DATE: August 26, 1999