Access refers to both the physical space and also the vital time periods when people want to travel. Our current system consists of an unplanned mixture of airport rules, transportation regulations, lease obligations, and squatters rights, that allow individual carriers to gain significant power to control access to individual airports. These conditions allow carriers such as Northwest to dominate the hub at Minneapolis-Saint Paul, for United and American to dominate O'Hare in Chicago, and for Delta to dominate Atlanta. And the most remarkable thing about this phenomenon is that it is effective against even the most powerful competitors in the industry. Not only making it difficult for small carriers to serve Chicago, Atlanta and Washington, the lack of access curbs the major carriers' ability to compete effectively in those markets as well.
Air transportation is a network business.
That is, successful airlines have come to believe fervently in the idea that their growth and prosperity depends on their ability to fly everywhere, to offer major corporations and travel agencies unlimited options for reaching any destination. We know that true and effective competition cannot be mandated or regulated. But what the government can and has the duty to do, is address the artificial structural barriers to entry created by arcane airport access rules as well as de facto control of certain airports by the major carriers. We believe that these tactics are stifling competition. Support for the General Principles of S. 415 Airports are public facilities which must be accessible to all competitors on reasonable terms.