FAA, airlines, US government find new solutions to New York's airport gridlock

A federal task force made up of airline executives, government officials and aviation groups has been discussing how to decongest the New York airspace, which is the US's worst air-travel bottleneck. More planes jockey for space in the sky than the area's beleaguered air traffic control system can handle.

The question is, does one reduce the number of flights, or are there ways to safely get more planes into and out of the area's three major airports, on time? The panel has been discussing both approaches during a series of high-level meetings over the past three weeks.

US transportation secretary Mary Peters convened the group in late September and asked it to find suitable solutions for chronic delays at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and its sister airports, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty. President Bush has asked the task force to report back by December.

But she also gave it a clear warning. If it failed, airlines had better be prepared to face a federal order reducing the number of allowed flights. Not surprisingly, the meetings, led by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), have been closed to the public.

One of the most contentious proposals will be 'congestion pricing'; higher fees for planes operating at the airports during the aviation rush hours, which, in New York, coincide roughly with morning and evening commutes.

Its proponents say the extra cost of flying in prime time might lead airlines to shift some flights to less busy periods, and leave rush hour to the biggest jets with the most passengers. Travellers might opt for off-peak hours if tickets for those coveted early evening flights suddenly got more expensive.