Senator calls for resignation of FAA chief

Senator Charles Schumer called for the resignation of the head of America’s aviation Agency on Tuesday this week. The senator is frustrated with the constant backlogs at the major airports in New York City and the increasing number of delays being experienced country-wide.

“It falls clearly in the lap of the FAA and the FAA administrator,” said Schumer, D-N.Y.

Schumer blames Federal Aviation Administration Chief Marion Blakey for the bad relationship between the government and air traffic controllers which Schumer says has only deteriorated under Blakey’s leadership.
“She has engaged in a counterproductive fight with the air traffic controllers, cut the number of controllers that are needed, and they sometimes lash back,” said the senator.

This year, from January to April, 38 per cent of flights at three New York airports, Newark, JFK and LaGuardia, were either late or cancelled. Schumer says it’s the government’s responsibility to introduce changes in the industry to reduce these delays. So far the FAA has not reacted.

“It’s getting to the point where it’s intolerable,” Schumer said.

www.faa.gov