Aviation Conspiracy: Politicians Say FAA Is Too "Cozy" With Airlines!!!

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http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/newsletter475.htm

Aviation Conspiracy Newsletter
#475........................................................................April
6, 2008 Past newsletters can be accessed at:
http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/ACNewsmenu.htm If you want to get the
newsletter sent to you every week, sign up to AviationWatch. Bill Mulcahy
rockaway@prodigy.net

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Quote of the Week: "Imagine that in the comfort of your home, one day the
government decides to turn up the volume by running jet planes overhead."
comment in a story this week by New Jersey Senator Menendez on the FAA's
Airspace Redesign

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Politicians Say FAA Is Too "Cozy" With Airlines!!!

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As Bill Sees It (Editorial): FAA Accused Of Being "Too Cozy" With
Airlines!!! How many ex-FAA administrators have to go to work for the
industry they are supposed to be regulating before people wake up to the
fact that the airline industry owns the FAA. I'm glad to see all the media
and political heat the FAA is getting lately, these creeps deserve it and
more. However, with all the focus on lax safety and inspections the media is
ignoring the FAA's real victims, the people on the ground who are impacted
by the FAA's lack of concern with aviation noise and air pollution. With new
studies coming from Europe showing an IMMEDIATE rise in blood pressure and
DEATHS from airport noise...even when sleeping, the FAA bastards must be
finding it harder to justify their directing planes over planes over
innocent victims. But then again, I've found through experience the people
in the FAA have an almost unlimited contempt for the people (who they call
"whiners") in communities located near airports. No doubt that helps them
except what they do to their fellow Americans.

Internet Shows The Horror Of Airplane Noise On Impacted People!!! You
just have to look at some of the Youtube videos (click on the one on the
right) on the Internet to see that the Aviation Cabal (the aviation industry
and their political stooges and the FAA) is going to have a harder time in
the future to keep the environmental and health impacts of their dirty
business secret. I don't know what airport or country this video was taken
in, but I do know that homes like this are located close to major U.S.
airports, like JFK in New York City. Areas like Hamiltion Beach, Queens and
Meadowmere Park in Nassau County are noise pollution hells that politicians
have sacrificed to expand JFK Airport. With scientific data piling up daily
on the deadly health impacts of noise, I don't how the government can keep
expanding airports while ignoring this data and not have it included in
Environmental Impact Studies (EIS). In the last few issues of the Aviation
Conspiracy Newsletter I have shown that even some U.S. government agencies
are recognizing the health impacts of noise. Of course that doesn't include
the FAA which continues to look at noise pollution as something they have to
use various means to hide the impacts of.

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Skybus Shuts Down All Service, Including To New York's Stewart Airport:
COLUMBUS, OH - Skybus Airlines, the new low-cost carrier that entered the
Hudson Valley market with flights from Stewart Airport to its hub at
Columbus, OH and to Greensboro, announced Friday night that it would cease
all operations effective Saturday, April 5. It will file for bankruptcy
protection under Chapter 11 on Monday, April 7. "Skybus struggled to
overcome the combination of rising jet fuel costs and a slowing economic
environment," said Skybus CEO Michael Hodge. "These two issues proved to be
insurmountable for a new carrier." "I had high hopes for Skybus especially
with their hook of 10, $10 flights on each flight," said John D'Ambrosio,
president of the Orange County Chamber of Commerce. When contacted Friday
night, a Port Authority spokesman was unaware of the Skybus announcement.
The Port Authority operates Stewart Airport. Passengers holding reservations
for flights scheduled to depart on or after Saturday should contact their
credit card companies to arrange to apply for a refund, the airline said.
"We deeply regret the impact this decision will have on our employees and
their families, customers, vendors, suppliers, airport officials and others
in the cities in which we have operated," said Hodge. "Our financial
condition is such that our Board of Directors felt it had no choice but to
cease operations." Skybus began operations on May 22, 2007 and at the time
it ceased operations was operating 11 aircraft making 80 daily flights to 15
cities in the US. It began Stewart service in mid-January of this year. It
had planned to add a third city from Stewart, Portsmouth, NH. Skybus had
approximately 450 employees, 350 based in Columbus and the remainder in
North Carolina. Employees were notified of the airline's action on Friday.
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/April08/05/Skybus_shutdown-05Apr08.html

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Important Aviation News
Stories This Week

NJ SENATORS: AIRPLANE INSPECTIONS YET ANOTHER ISSUE THE FAA MUST ADDRESS
BEFORE HOLD OF NOMINEE WILL BE RELEASED

By Senator Robert Menendez - April 3, 2008 - 4:46pm Tags: Airplane
inspection, Release Date: Apr 3 2008

http://www.politickernj.com/senatormenendez/18060/nj-senators-airplane-inspections-yet-ano
ther-issue-faa-must-address-hold-nomin

WASHINGTON - Today, as neglect of airline inspections took center stage at a
Congressional hearing, New Jersey Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Frank
Lautenberg (D-NJ) say they are adding it to the list of issues the Federal
Aviation Administration must resolve before they would consider lifting
their holds on the nomination for FAA Administrator. The senators announced
in February that they were placing holds on the nomination of FAA Acting
Administrator Robert Sturgell to be the permanent Administrator, citing his
agency's lack of action on a number of air safety and efficiency concerns,
particularly within the congested New Jersey airspace.

"The Federal Aviation Administration has lost focus of its mission," said
Senator Menendez. "It needs a serious reminder that it exists to the keep to
flying public safe, not to get cozy with the airlines. The list of major
concerns that this out-of-touch agency must address just keeps on growing.
The common thread though all of these problems is a lack of leadership at
the agency. I will make sure that Mr. Sturgell's nomination does not see the
light of day until this list of issues is addressed."

"Major changes are needed at the FAA. The recent safety problems are just
the latest evidence that new leadership and strong enforcement of our safety
laws are needed to make air travel safe for passengers," Senator Lautenberg
said. "The problem is that the Bush Administration's FAA has too often
chosen airlines over passengers and the public, whether it's failing to
inspect their planes, allowing them to over-schedule flights or redesigning
the flight patterns over New Jersey. As the FAA's second-in-command, Mr.
Sturgell helped create many of these poor policies and he must be held
accountable."

Today's hearing in the House Transportation Committee includes
whistleblowers testifying that Southwest Airlines was permitted to skip
inspections of aircraft because of a close relationship with certain FAA
officials.

Among the issues that the New Jersey senators raised when the hold was first
placed on Sturgell were:

Airspace redesign - without listening to public feedback, the FAA rushed
into a plan for new flight paths into and out of Newark Liberty
International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport that promises
to increase the noise level for thousands of New Jersey residents without
substantially reducing flight delays.

Air traffic controllers - there is serious concern that the not enough air
traffic controllers with the experience necessary to manage the nation's
busiest airspace are on staff in the region, but the FAA has only attempted
to justify the staffing levels rather than remedying them.

Near misses - reports of near misses on the runway at Newark and in the air
are increasing, which was underscored by a Government Accountability Office
report Senator Lautenberg requested that showed that Newark has among the
most runway incursions in the nation.

Minimum fuel landings - both Senators wrote the FAA last year about reports
of a dramatic increase in flights coming in to Newark with only a minimum
amount of fuel left in the tank, but the FAA still has not been able to
produce statistics or an adequate answer.

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