Editorial: Long-term fix needed

Friday, Dec. 21, 2007 | 7:23 a.m.

About 9 million American travelers are expected to hop aboard airplanes this holiday weekend and, undoubtedly, a great many are bracing themselves for the delays that have become all but inevitable in air travel.

Just before the Thanksgiving travel period started last month, President Bush announced that federal officials were opening up military air space to commercial jetliners during the holiday travel period to help avoid hours-long waits on runways and in airports.

But with winter storms promising to bear down on much of the country this weekend and millions of people trying to travel in a very short period, it would be naive to think that Bush's temporary fix will be a cure-all.

And, of course, what happens after Jan. 1?

New York lawmakers passed a measure, effective Jan. 1, that will require airlines leaving or arriving at New York airports to provide drinking water, bathrooms and other services to passengers who remain in an airplane grounded for three hours or more. The Air Transport Association, an airline industry trade group, has asked a federal judge to suspend enforcement of the law, saying it violates the 1978 federal deregulation of the industry.

A patchwork of state laws to regulate an interstate industry such as the airline industry does not make sense. This problem should be addressed at the federal level. But even there the effort has been piecemeal and disjointed.

Legislation that would require airlines to meet passengers' basic needs has languished in House and Senate committees since being introduced earlier this year. And such regulation would address only the problem of airline delays after the worst has already happened. The country needs an airline policy that tackles overcrowded air space and runways before passengers get stuck.

The U.S. Transportation Department is proposing cutting the number of flights allowed and forcing airlines to pay higher landing fees during peak travel hours.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote in a USA Today commentary this week that such measures would serve only to raise passengers' fares and limit their choices.

Certainly, a comprehensive and sensible solution to clearing our nation's increasingly crowded skies is going to take time. Some discussions have started, but that will offer little comfort to the millions of travelers for whom flying this weekend will be no holiday.