A so-called “federal task force” comprised of airline executives, government officials and aviation industry groups has been assembled.

The mission?

To fix NYC’s airport gridlock. In order to succeed, the NYC airport task force must hold secret, confidential meetings in which they will discuss the mystery of NYC’s traffic nightmare.

Will they find a cure in time?

From Newsday:

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters convened the group in late September, and gave it a warning: Find a fix for chronic delays at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and its sister airports, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty, or be prepared to face a federal order reducing the number of allowed flights.

The talks, led by the Federal Aviation Administration, have been closed to the public, but participants report that one of the primary topics will be “congestion pricing,” a scheme to reduce delays by making airlines think twice about scheduling flights during the busiest times of the day.

Generally, the plan would implement higher fees for planes operating at the airports during the aviation rush hours, which, in New York, coincide roughly with morning and evening commutes.

What? You mean, it’s not practical to schedule every flight in the airport to leave at 9:00 AM?

FAA, airlines brainstorm on NYC airport gridlock[Newsday]
(Photo:eliimac)

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