CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -- SENATE

August 23, 1967

Page 23822

THE NEED TO DIVERT TRANSATLANTIC AIR FLIGHTS FROM NEW YORK AND BOSTON

Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, airplane traffic along the east coast becomes a greater safety hazard each day, to passengers as well as to those below in homes and offices.

One possible way to reduce air traffic over major east coast cities would be to divert transatlantic flights to auxiliary fields away from congested areas.

A year ago, Gov. Kenneth M. Curtis, of Maine, suggested that a study be made of the feasibility of developing the Dow-Bangor, Maine Air Force Base into such an auxiliary for transatlantic flights to and from Boston and New York. The Bangor facility will be deactivated next July by the Strategic Air Command and the Air Defense Command.

Governor Curtis' suggestion has merit. Bangor is 400 miles nearer Europe than New York and 200 miles nearer than Boston. Bangor is on the great circle route to Europe, and the Federal Government has invested more than $83 million in the field's facilities, which can handle any kind of jet in any kind of weather.

Furthermore, Bangor is free of congestion, both in the air and on the ground, and could be served by feeder lines to the hometowns of transatlantic passengers, with a minimum of confusion.

I repeated Governor Curtis' suggestion recently to Transportation Secretary Alan S. Boyd. He responded that he did not consider it appropriate to expand the scope of his Department's planning studies to include Bangor.

Secretary Boyd said that passenger and freight facilities would have to be built at Bangor, and that no airline other than Northeast has expressed interest in serving Bangor.

I was disturbed by Mr. Boyd's answer. The Bangor facility has many buildings which could be adapted to passenger and freight needs. Even if new construction were necessary, these costs would be only a fraction of what it would cost to build a completely new airport, such as has been suggested for New York, including access roads and land acquisition.

Furthermore, until a Transportation Department study determined that transatlantic operations at Bangor were feasible, there would be no reason for any other airline to express an interest in serving Bangor.

Most distressing of all is the type of development the Department is considering for the relief of air congestion.

FAA Administrator William F. McKee reports that his agency is doing everything possible to make air travel safer by trying to reduce traffic at airports. At the same time, General McKee is talking about building new airports to serve urban areas whose skies already are crowded.

Let us look at New York City. One day last year, 104 planes were counted circling the three airports simultaneously. Now a fourth airport is being considered for New York.

This approach may be the traditional one, but it is not necessarily the whole answer.

It takes several years to build a major new airport, and it has been estimated that by the time the fourth New York airport had been completed, the average runway delay at Kennedy International would be more than 1½ hours. In addition, a fourth airport would only increase air traffic, increase chances for midair collisions, and add to the overall inconvenience and travel time of passengers.

Diverting transatlantic flights away from New York, to Bangor and elsewhere, is one way to help to reduce the problem, as well as to improve passenger service.

Of all transatlantic passengers using Kennedy International, only a third live in the New York City region. However, two-thirds of all transatlantic flights land or take off at Kennedy.

This means that two-thirds of all those persons now forced to use Kennedy International could be served as conveniently and more safely at an airport far removed from New York.

At Bangor, for instance, the transatlantic traveler would be spared the crowded terminal, the long lines for tickets, and the long walk to the feeder airline counter. Once aboard, his trip would not be delayed because his plane was forced to wait in line to take off. And at all times in the air over Bangor, he would be safer because there would be far less air traffic.

Mr. President, no one who flies frequently or who reads the press reports of air disasters is insensitive to the growing problems of air travel, caused by congestion.

The question we all ask is how the Transportation Department, the Federal Aeronautics Administrations, and our States and cities are planning to solve the problem.

Judging from what we see today, we were not planning properly 5 years ago. Judging from Secretary Boyd's response to my suggestion for utilizing Bangor, I question whether we are applying much commonsense to the problem today.

One thing is clear: with 50 percent more people expected to be flying in 1971, the problem is getting more critical quickly. I believe that Secretary Boyd and others responsible for air safety are not meeting their responsibility to the public if they are not studying every reasonable alternative to traditional planning.