LEXIS-NEXIS® Academic Universe-Document

LEXIS-NEXIS® Academic

March 16, 2000, Thursday, FINAL EDITION

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 8A

LENGTH: 792 words

HEADLINE: Airport bill to spark construction takeoff

BYLINE: Scott Bowles and Wendy Koch

DATELINE: WASHINGTON

BODY:
WASHINGTON -- The aviation bill awaiting President Clinton's signature
is expected to trigger an airport building boom next year when
the federal money starts flowing.

The bill doubles airport construction grants and gives the nation's
10 busiest airports from $ 9 million to $ 22 million apiece in fiscal
2001. Airports can raise even more by increasing local ticket
taxes.

The legislation also paves the way for more flights at Washington's
Reagan National, Chicago's O'Hare and New York's La Guardia and
Kennedy.
Jonathan Gaffney, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Washington
Airports Authority, says the bill clears the way for a 2-year,
$ 94 million renovation of the historic terminal at the south end
of Reagan National. The terminal now sits empty.

Gaffney says two dozen new daily flights at National won't lead
to passenger delays. "It's not like we'll have all 24 flights
coming in at once," he says. "We won't add more than two an
hour. It shouldn't slow us down at all."

Nancy Castles, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles International Airport,
says most of the money generated from the ticket fee increase
would go toward soundproofing 30,000 homes surrounding the airport.

"We've soundproofed the doors and windows, but that requires
residents (to) keep them all shut," she says. "Now we want to
install air conditioning units so their homes don't become ovens
in the summer."

The operators of La Guardia and Kennedy airports have not decided
whether to seek higher ticket fees.

They will review funding needs as construction continues on a
$ 15 billion light rail system at Kennedy.

Monique Bond, a spokeswoman for O'Hare, says the airport probably
will add 20 flights a day. She says it won't pose a safety threat
or increase delays.

Easing flight restrictions at O'Hare would help solve noise problems
for suburban areas around the airport, Bond says. "We'll be able
to move more flights to the day from the night," when more people
are at home, she says.

Not all residents buy the argument, however.

"The last thing O'Hare needs is more planes buzzing the houses,"
resident Ann Caruth says. "Maybe they should use that money
to move."

Key provisions of FAA legislation

Key provisions of the Federal Aviation Administration bill passed
Wednesday by the House of Representatives and sent to the White
House for President Clinton's signature:

* More spending: Increases funding for airport construction
and air traffic control modernization. Guarantees that all revenue
and interest from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund in the next
three years, an estimated $ 33 billion, be spent on aviation. Authorizes
another $ 6.7 billion from general funds during that period.

* Higher passenger fees: Allows airports to increase the
fee on airline tickets from $ 3 to $ 4.50 per leg. The maximum for
a round-trip ticket, with one connecting flight each way, would
rise from $ 12 to $ 18. About half of airports levy this fee, estimated
to raise $ 700 million annually for local construction and noise
abatement.

* More flights to four airports:Allows two dozen more
flights daily this year at Washington's Reagan National, half
of which could exceed the current 1,250-mile limit. Limits on
the number of flights would end by March 1, 2002, at Chicago's
O'Hare and by Jan. 1, 2007, at New York's Kennedy and La Guardia.

* Lost, injured or dead animals:Requires airlines to report
monthly on incidents in which animal passengers were lost, were
injured or died. The government will publish this information.

* Small airports:Doubles, to $ 1 million annually, the
minimum construction grants given to commercial airports that
have at least 10,000 passengers each year.

* Tightened security:Requires criminal background checks
on all airport security personnel.

* Families of crash victims: Allows these families to
collect compensation for accidents within 12 miles of the U.S.
coast, rather than the current 3 miles. Allows them to collect
non-economic damages. The boundary change would be retroactive
to the crash of TWA Flight 800, which killed 230 people in 1996.

* Customer service: Increases penalties for customer service
violations, including those affecting the disabled.

* Smoking ban: Prohibits smoking on international flights
to or from the USA, unless a foreign government agrees to an alternative.
Almost all such flights, 97%, already ban smoking.

* Air cabin quality and helicopter noise: Requires a study
on air cabin quality and another on the effects of non-military
helicopter noise in densely populated areas.

* National parks:Regulates commercial air tours over national
parks.

GRAPHIC: PHOTO, B/W, H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY; Lineup: Aircraft wait to take off at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, where two dozen new daily flights are anticipated.

LOAD-DATE: March 16, 2000