Dear Mr. Kelly,
The editorial is filled with many misrepresentations. Please set the record
straight.
Point #1: Airway congestion is a myth. The skies are not crowded. A
few big airports that serve the major airlines are overcrowded with airline
traffic. Hub congestion is a fact and is the airline industry's
making. Point to point navigation that frees aircraft from using ground
based navigation aids and its attendant airways has been around for a long time.
GPS has been around for over ten years. I file and fly GPS direct almost every
flight I make and I know your crews often ask for "direct to destination"
to cut flight times. General aviation got onboard with GPS long before the
airlines did. Delays experienced by airlines are their own making. Hub and spoke
operations constrict the NAS system into a few major bottlenecks like O'Hare,
Atlanta and New York. These airports are generally avoided by general aviation
users who prefer smaller closer relievers. You can only fit so many airplanes
onto the same piece of concrete. Southwest knows that better than any other
airline. New airport construction is sadly lacking in this country. All aviation
users need to get onboard together and demand new airport construction-- and not
just at a few major hubs.
Pont #2: The ATC system served all segments of aviation in 1970 as it does
today.
Point #3: The general aviation body is adamantly opposed to user fees. User
fees have all but killed GA in other parts of the world. User fees are an
invitation by one body to tax another into extinction. Be careful what you wish
for because when GA is dead, Southwest and the other airlines will be
training its own future pilots at a huge expense that they currently do not
fund.
Point #4: The airline industry as a whole should not be making
recommendations to Congress on how to fund the FAA until they as a whole
can put their own financial house in order. The taxpayer has been
underwriting the industry for years-- most recently with PBGC pension fund
bailouts, bankruptcy proceedings and 9/11 handouts. The industry as a whole is
the most poorly managed industry in America. Southwest Airlines stands apart and
above much of the problems generated by the poorly led airlines and I am
dismayed your good company would join ranks with the rest.
Please set the record straight in Spirit magazine or I will take my
business elsewhere.
Regards,
William J. "Jeff" Edwards
Chesterfield, Missouri