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President Bush

President's Plane Plan Not Likely to Work

November 19, 2007 at 4:30 PM | 0 Comments

Struggling to regain the good graces of passengers during the worst year for airline travel, airlines and now even President Bush, are scrambling to prepare for this week's impending travel crush. Last week, W proposed a plan to improve travel during the holiday season, but will it really work? Not likely, say aviation experts.

Airline industry analyst Michael Boyd told the New York Times that the plan calls for improvements that are still contingent on the assumption that the holiday season will be without bad weather:

What's all this rah-rah about the holiday season? What's changed? We're just going to stagger on the way we've been doing for the past year, vulnerable to any glitch in the system, vulnerable to any weather issues.

And Boyd isn't the only one who thinks things could get ugly. Atlantic correspondent James Fallows writes about the president's widely-reported initiative to free up military air space:

It's not worth explaining all the details here, but the main point is: There aren't that many "special use" areas near the big East Coast airports. If New York City were where Camp Lejeune is, in North Carolina, then military airspace might be an issue. But, umm, it's not. The NY-area special airspace that looks biggest...is way out over the ocean anyway.

In other words, look out for bad weather and get ready for ground delays--and don't believe the hype.

Related Stories:
· About That Plan For Thanksgiving Air Travel [Atlantic]
· On Time? Late? Here We Go Again [NYT]
· Holiday Travel Gets Some Help [Jaunted]
· Travel Hell coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Christopher Althouse Cohen]