News Release

Release #99.48

September 2, 1999

ALPA President Praises Garvey's Commitment to NAS Modernization

WASHINGTON---The head of the Air Line Pilots Association, International, welcomed statements from FAA Administrator Jane Garvey on CNN this morning, saying that "the long-term answer (to delays) is modernizing the system."

"This is exactly what we have been preaching for years," said Captain Duane Woerth, president of ALPA. "All the short-term fixes in the world won't make up for the fact that we have to thoroughly overhaul our National Airspace System (NAS) to make it both safe and efficient well into the next century."

"ALPA has worked closely with the FAA on the various short-term fixes that give modest improvements to capacity. But we at ALPA have always known – and Administrator Garvey has gone on record to the public now – that these merely buy us time; and we are wasting that precious commodity every day that we don't push forward on NAS modernization," he said.

"The really exasperating aspect is that we have the technology and the money to do it. We don't need to wait for some exotic technological breakthrough. We don't have to go begging for the money, either. The Aviation Trust Fund could finance the entire program, provide the funding in a predictable, steady fashion, and still have plenty left over for the more routine needs," he said.

"Furthermore, I'll bet that every frustrated passenger sitting in a delay somewhere would be livid to know that the traveling public already has paid enough in ticket taxes to the Trust Fund to cover the entire cost," he said.

Woerth called on congressional leaders to move forward on H.R. 1000, the Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21^st Century, known as AIR 21. In addition to providing the FAA's annual funding, it would take the Aviation Trust Fund off budget so it could be used for urgently needed aviation improvements such as NAS modernization.

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ALPA CONTACT: John Mazor (703) 481-4440