Runways are as important to relieving air travel congestion as highways are to reducing auto traffic. But it often takes 10 years or more to plan and build a new runway, primarily because of cumbersome environmental permitting requirements. Although it only takes two years to actually construct a major runway, before commencing construction airport authorities must first meet time-consuming environmental regulations mandated by often duplicative federal and state laws governing air and water quality, endangered species, historical preservation, noise abatement, solid waste impacts, coastal zone management and other environmental concerns. The efficiency and comfort that customers rightly expect from air travel is seriously eroding as a result of so many jets competing for a limited amount of runway space and gates. Between 1995 and 2000, airline cancellations jumped 104 percent while departure and arrival delays increased 33 percent.
Customer complaints are on the rise.
Last year, the number of complaints, mainly about cancellations, delays and missed connections, increased 14 percent compared with 1999. If the environmental permitting process is not streamlined soon to expedite new airport and runway construction, consumer dissatisfaction with airline travel will only get worse. The number of airline passengers is projected to increase 60 percent to 1 billion in 2010. It is a matter of passenger safety. Clearly, if air space continues to get more crowded, that creates the conditions for serious accidents to occur.