Q: What do you make of the recent closure of central Iowa’s home-grown airline?
A: I’m sorry the fledgling airline was forced to call it quits. Despite strong support from civic, business and political leaders, the airline struggled mightily to raise capital, attract passengers and compete with more established carriers. The airline’s failure to cement a sustainable business in central Iowa underscores the difficult road ahead to bring more choice, lower fares and better service to passengers flying in and out of Iowa. While it deals a set-back to those who worked so hard to inject more competition into the market, it is far from the final chapter as far as I’m concerned. Community leaders in Iowa know too well that high fares and inadequate air service make it more difficult to grow their communities. It makes it more expensive to do business in Iowa. As a federal lawmaker, I will continue to make sure Washington keeps a close eye on consolidation trends in the industry. With passenger levels at record highs and airline performance ratings at record lows, it’s an understatement to say the nation’s air transportation system is under the national microscope. Moreover, these figures correlate with a spike in consumer complaints regarding passenger service.
Q: What can Washington do to improve air service in this country?
A: For starters, the federal government has an obligation to ensure the marketplace is working and do what it can to facilitate new competition around the country, especially in under-served markets. In this Congress, I’ve signed on to legislation that would beef up the authority of the U.S. Transportation Department to investigate anti-competitive practices at major airports around the country. Moreover, our bipartisan bill would provide the DOT with expanded authority to review airline mergers and acquisitions and release new funding for local airport projects that are designed to foster new competition. As I’ve said many times in the debate over so-called merger mania, bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better. As the airline industry seeks to consolidate and streamline their resources, it’s essential that the major carriers don’t get too big for their britches. Shareholders aren’t the only ones with a stake in the industry and the government must make sure the flying public’s interests aren’t overlooked. According to the Air Transport Association, the number of passengers flying on U.S. airlines rose to 665 million in 2000 from 240 million in 1977. Morever, the Federal Aviation Administration predicts the number will increase to 900 million by 2009. Clearly, government and industry must be prepared. As a policy maker, I’ll continue working to ensure the air transportation system in this country makes public safety its number one priority and that the airline industry plays by the rules to ensure adequate, affordable, quality service.