“I do know each airline is feeling the stress to ship and be there as we go into the vacations.”
That is the phrase from U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who gave TPG a wide-ranging interview on the state of journey and journey infrastructure because the Joe Biden administration marks the two-year anniversary of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation, which was signed into regulation Nov. 15, 2021. The complete video of the interview is on the backside of this text.
The secretary not solely talked about how airways are doing recovering from delays and cancellations but additionally in regards to the scarcity of air site visitors management staff, the administration’s work on passenger rights and the way the large infusion of funds from the infrastructure regulation is rolling out to the nation’s ports, trains, airports and different main development initiatives.
How will airways carry out this vacation season?
Once I talked about that the summer time went pretty easily by way of delays and cancellations, Buttigieg instructed me that the airways are in a lot better form heading into the vacation season. He mentioned we have seen dramatic enhancements on two fronts.
“One is the efficiency itself, so individuals do not get stranded,” he mentioned, “after which the second is buyer safety for what occurs in case you do get stranded.”
“Each of these have superior gentle years within the final yr and a half or two years,” Buttigieg famous, including that the administration’s motion on passenger safety and flyer rights “has clearly made an enormous distinction in what you possibly can count on while you do expertise a disruption.”
Associated: Airlines pushed again by DOT to be better on delays and cancellations
“Of course,” he continued, “what we really prefer is not to have that disruption happen in the first place, and I think our pressure on the airlines as well as a willingness to work with the airlines when we can help with, for example, more efficient routing or other operational improvements in air traffic control are all part of the reason why this year we got to a cancellation rate that’s actually lower than before the pandemic, even as we saw an all-time record high in terms of the number of passengers traveling over the summer holidays.”
Buttigieg said that as we go into the winter holidays, the Biden administration will closely watch how the airlines perform to ensure fewer people have disruptions.
Daily Newsletter
Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter
Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG’s experts
Last year, the airlines had major meltdowns as winter storms kicked off days and, in some cases, weeks of delays and cancellations. Southwest Airlines was the carrier that struggled the most to recover, and Buttigieg told me he has assurances that things will be better this year.
“The CEO of Southwest just briefed me on the steps they are taking that he has committed will make sure that what that particular airline went through last year won’t happen again,” Buttigieg said. “And I know every airline is feeling the pressure to deliver and be there as we go into the holidays.”
Regardless, Buttigieg pledged that the Department of Transportation will keep a close eye on how the airlines perform in the event there is another weather disruption this season.
I also asked the transportation secretary whether he would support a stronger passenger bill of rights or something similar to what Europe has with EU261, where passengers are required to be compensated in the case of long delays or cancellations.
“We’re working on that right now,” Buttigieg said. “We’ve begun the regulatory process that would make it possible to get that compensation in the case of extreme delay.
“Right now, there’s no requirement for that,” he continued. “You can count on a refund in the case of a cancellation but not necessarily in the case of a delay. It’s up to the airline, and some airlines are more consistent than others in terms of how they take care of people. We do believe there ought to be a baseline.”
He said public comment on new Department of Transportation rules for passenger compensation will open soon, and he suspected passengers would have a lot to say.
Air traffic controller shortages
Buttigieg struck a more cautious tone on another issue that has snarled air travel over the past few years.
“We’ve made progress, but there’s a long way to go,” he said about what’s become a well-documented shortage of air traffic control workers.
Buttigieg took the opportunity to stress this was one of many reasons why the U.S. cannot afford a government shutdown, which remains a risk in Washington this year. Such a scenario would close down the Federal Aviation Administration Academy in Oklahoma, slowing down how quickly prospective new air traffic controllers move through the training pipeline.
“It’s … why we also can’t afford extreme budget cuts that would impact our traffic control,” he added. “We clearly need more, not less, both on technology, where we’ve got to modernize aging systems like the one that gave us so much trouble in January, and on staffing, where we have to train, hire and equip the next generation of air traffic controllers.”
Flight delayed or canceled? Here are the best credit cards with trip delay reimbursement
Given how air traffic control training is set up, Buttigieg noted that if the process gets disrupted — even for a few days — it can actually set training back by weeks.
Using a hypothetical example in which the U.S. suffered an eight-week government shutdown, Buttigieg said controllers in the training process might have to start training over “because you need that fresh, recent experience.”
That, he continued, is why it’s “so very important to us to keep that pipeline open and grow it. That’s our focus. It’s what’s in the president’s budget. It’s what’s in our FAA agenda.”
He also reminded me that we now have a Senate-confirmed FAA administrator, Michael Whitaker, “who is ready to pick up the ball and run with it. We just need to make sure we back him up with the kind of funding that [the] FAA deserves.”
Infrastructure spending
On Nov. 15, 2021, President Biden signed the massive Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Two years later, projects are getting underway across the country.
It took a year to create the programs authorized by the bill, Buttigieg said, including several that were multibillion-dollar programs. The White House is excited as it rolls out spending projects.
“Now we’re at the phase where we’re actually moving the money at an increasingly fast pace so that we can get the dirt flying around the country, and as we go into next year’s construction season, you’re gonna see more and more projects underway,” he said, noting that there are 31,000 projects in progress in the transportation sector alone.
Buttigieg said some of the planned projects are relatively simple ones that can be done in one season, but others “are multiyear efforts that I call the cathedrals of our infrastructure. What I’m really proud of is that these things are making a difference in communities of every type, every size and every economic makeup across the U.S.”
When I asked him what single project he’s been most excited to see either completed or begin, Buttigieg said, “As a frequent user of O’Hare, I’m pretty excited about what’s coming there, and rehabilitating Terminal 3.”
He additionally mentioned he was pleased in regards to the funds for a new terminal for Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT).
Buttigieg additionally pointed to initiatives “that tons of of 1000’s of individuals a day rely on in locations like Maryland, exterior of Baltimore and New York. These are thrilling, however I’ve to let you know among the most rewarding ones are ones that will not make nationwide headlines however imply the world the place they’re taking place.”
He gave TPG one other airport instance that is a bit smaller in scale: Chamberlain Municipal Airport in Chamberlain, South Dakota. The city of round 2,500 individuals has an airport “and it is a vital one, although there is not any airways going there. It is necessary due to the medevac missions that fly individuals to the closest hospital virtually day-after-day.”
Buttigieg mentioned the city’s normal aviation terminal is a cell residence, and the city has been attempting to improve it for years. Now, with funding coming from this infrastructure package deal, the city will obtain a grant that can assist create a sturdy, correct constructing for the airport.
Prepare funding and high-speed rail’s future
Buttigieg mentioned he is very enthusiastic about the way forward for trains in America. Particularly, he identified three classes associated to coach infrastructure: upkeep, including or restoring service that was misplaced, and home high-speed rail service.
Associated: Amtrak orders more new trains to meet growing demand
“Taking care of the basics, improving the reliability of our rail network by investing in maintenance. It should’ve been done a long time ago,” he said. “The Hudson River tunnel represents the finest, most state-of-the-art engineering of the Teddy Roosevelt administration.”
That’s in reference to the massive project now underway to build a new tunnel under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey. The current tunnel carries Amtrak and New Jersey Transit passenger trains and is woefully out of date. The Hudson Tunnel Project will eventually create a new two-track tunnel, permitting for quicker and extra frequent prepare journeys.
The Biden administration has supplied $66 billion in funding for rail initiatives throughout the U.S., reminiscent of modernizing Amtrak operations facilities. That is the biggest funding in passenger service for the reason that creation of Amtrak in 1971, according to the White House.
Amtrak is utilizing the funds to assist modernize its fleet and repair longstanding restore points. It is also fueling a push to develop passenger rail service to new routes across the nation and velocity up service on present traces, as TPG reported again in June.
The hassle consists of the overhaul of the almost 150-year-old Baltimore & Potomac Tunnel, one other chokepoint within the Northeast Hall.
“Rehabilitating (it) will imply the trains do not should decelerate as they as we speak do to barter that area,” Buttigieg mentioned. “So we’re caring for the fundamentals.”
The second a part of the DOT push is so as to add or restore misplaced prepare service, with Buttigieg saying, “An amazing instance of that’s the Gulf Coast.”
Amtrak service between Cellular, Alabama, and New Orleans ended after Hurricane Katrina swept via the realm almost 20 years in the past. Now, because of Division of Transportation funding, Amtrak will resume service on the line with two each day trains between New Orleans and Cellular beginning as quickly as subsequent yr.
“We expect it is gonna unlock a variety of financial potential on the Gulf Coast,” Buttigieg mentioned.
Associated: A 1st have a look at Amtrak’s spiffy new Acela trains
Buttigieg talked about the way forward for high-speed rail, too. He mentioned he believed progress on this entrance can be actually thrilling, particularly for Individuals who’ve traveled to different nations, seen high-speed rail and questioned why the U.S. would not have one thing comparable.
He additionally acknowledged the infrastructure invoice would not be a panacea for bullet trains in every single place.
“Now, the infrastructure package deal is only a down cost on excessive velocity. It is not gonna construct the whole lot in every single place,” he mentioned. “However we imagine it’s with the {dollars} that we now have in that package deal we will contribute to 2 or three particular locations within the U.S. the place American vacationers on this decade will be capable of start to expertise a stage of high-speed service that probably the most superior economies besides us rely on, and we should always be capable of rely on it, too.”
The administration has put aside $12 billion for intercity rail, together with high-speed rail initiatives. Brightline’s proposed Las Vegas-to-Los Angeles prepare and a high-speed prepare system at the moment below development in California’s Central Valley are among the many initiatives that can probably profit.
Associated studying:
