Air Transport Association Responds to TIA Study on Air Travel

To: TRAVEL EDITORS

Contact: Elizabeth Merida, +1-202-626-4205, or Victoria Day, +1- 202-626-4141, both of Air Transport Association

WASHINGTON,May 29/PRNewswire-USNewswire/– The Air Transport Association of America (ATA), the industry trade organization representing the leading U.S. airlines, today issued the following statement in response to the Travel Industry Association (TIA) study on air travel and customer service:

Welcome to the picnic. The TIA survey reveals what ATA has been saying for years, that we have an aging air traffic control system that is in desperate need of replacement, said ATA President and CEO James C. May. We appreciate TIAs involvement in finding ways to improve the passenger travel experience and we look forward to working with them on the various initiatives that we already have put before Congress, FAA and others.

May added that if TIA wants to do something truly meaningful, they will join ATA in asking for immediate action on key initiatives to improve all aspects of air travel. These initiatives include:

1. Implement NowGen technologies now to provide immediate system efficiency gains, that means helping DOT/FAA work on the full list

of 77 initiatives that we provided last fall

2. Resolve New York region airspace issues and accelerate airspace

redesign to relieve pressure that delays in that region put on the

rest of the system

3. Urge Congress to fight sky-high oil prices while not imposing

unfair environmental fees on airlines

Just six months ago, TIA proposed raising revenue through a tax on passengers, an unsuitable solution to an already overtaxed industry, said May. We hope that we can work cooperatively with TIA to reduce, not raise, the cost of travel.

ATA airline members and their affiliates transport more than 90 percent of all U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic. For additional information about the industry, visit www.airlines.org.

SOURCE Air Transport Association

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