Business Aviation Affected By ATC Delays

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http://www.avweb.com/avwebbiz/news/BizAv_Affected_By_Delays_208573-1.html

April 23, 2013
BizAv Affected By ATC Delays
By Russ Niles, Editor-in-Chief

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Although airline flight delays due to sequester measures have grabbed the headlines, business aviation is also being affected by reduced staffing levels at air traffic control facilities. An aircraft management company on the East Coast told AVweb that a planned flight from the Baltimore area to South Carolina was scrubbed because air traffic control problems effectively ground stopped it. "The pilot was told that ATC was not accepting any departures over GVE or DAILY," a representative of the company told AVweb. "No estimate of when departures would be available was given, and no optional routing was offered." Meanwhile Dallas/Fort Worth Airport is the latest to report major traffic headaches, according to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

In a bulletin sent to the media, NATCA said that as of late morning arrivals at DFW were delayed by 30 minutes and they were increasing. A ground stop was in effect at Dulles and a ground delay was affecting flights at Reagan National. LAX was experiencing its third straight day of delays. Ironically, to cope with the situation, some controllers are being asked to work overtime at time and a half, thereby negating some of the cost savings of the furloughs.
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I'm curious about this. I spent about 4 years going around the country in GA aircraft. One of the first things I learned was that under 91, you have a lot more options when it comes to "getting out" than under 121, and a lot of times, you have to use them. According to the article, it says "ATC was not accepting any departures over GVE or DAILY." So why not file another route that doesn't utilize those fixes? It's not very often that ATC offers "optional routing" anyways, you usually have to figure it out yourself. Maybe go VFR until past said fixes? Pick a TEC route until out of that airspace?

I realize it's a management company, and therefore probably 135 and more restrictive. But even still, you should have more tricks up your sleeves than to just cancel the flight.

Then again, maybe ATC was being ornery and wasn't letting them do anything. I don't know. As I said, I'm curious to figure out what happened here.
 
I'm still not clear on what the problem is with user fees. Airspace isn't a road...it's not constructed or maintained. A Global is exactly as much trouble for ATC as a 747. Why is it unreasonable for the Global to pay the same amount for the services it's provided?
 
gne in prog said:
Yes. Aviation user fees are the solution to sequestration, not a gambit. I see your point.
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Any fee would go to the US treasury, Congress would still need to appropriate it for controllers to change staffing. Wouldn't change anything.

And even then, would those paying fees get priority over those that don't?
 
Back to the original topic, why not request an alternate route or two, and if all are rejected ask for them to assign a route? If they refuse, then they are clearly gigging you and should be reported.

This is sounding more like an intentional campaign to inflict pain, not an opportunity to step up and make the best of a challenging situation.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
Any fee would go to the US treasury, Congress would still need to appropriate it for controllers to change staffing. Wouldn't change anything.

And even then, would those paying fees get priority over those that don't?
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And would people be too cheap to get the services when their immediate safety is threatened?
 
drunkenbeagle said:
Any fee would go to the US treasury, Congress would still need to appropriate it for controllers to change staffing. Wouldn't change anything.
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My taxes go to the US Treasury and fund wars that I may not agree with, but I also know that the taxes/fees that are collected by the US Government fund the National Parks which I do use. Same concept.

And even then, would those paying fees get priority over those that don't?
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You may start seeing that without user fees.
 
Seggy said:
You may start seeing that without user fees.
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Congestion pricing sucks. We've got a few HOT lanes (High Occupancy/Toll) or straight up toll roads in SoCal. They're barely touched with the exception of a stretch that lets you jump around a part of I-405 on the way to San Diego.
 
tomokc said:
Back to the original topic, why not request an alternate route or two, and if all are rejected ask for them to assign a route? If they refuse, then they are clearly gigging you and should be reported.
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Have you ever flown up and down the East Coast?
 
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