Kerry Pledges More Priority, Security For Airlines By Denise Marois 06/01/2004 10:08:54 AM Presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) contends the Bush Administration has given inadequate priority to transportation -- especially airline security and airport congestion -- and supports a long-term integrated transportation plan that takes in all modes. If elected president, Kerry also pledged to move on addressing the air-traffic controller shortage and airline financial woes, and to continue the existing funding approach for congressionally imposed security mandates of having Washington bear most of the burden with the balance coming from passenger security fees. On the campaign trail, Kerry has offered little insight into what sort of aviation policies he might adopt, and The DAILY sought out staffers on the campaign and others close to the senator to flesh out the candidate's outlook on aviation. Those sources said aviation security would be a top priority in a Kerry Administration, adding that the candidate's broader economic policies would produce gains that will filter down to the airlines, whose fortunes have historically been tied to GDP. Some lobbyists remain skeptical that a Kerry presidency will look much different from a Bush Administration when it comes to airlines and airports. Others predict that Kerry will be more pro-labor, which will do little to redress imbalances in the labor-management relationship, and speculated that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under Kerry would take a more active approach to regulation. A Kerry presidency could also mean more taxes on the airlines, they argue. Kerry sources told The DAILY that he agrees the airlines are crucial to the nation's economy and his administration would work with the industry to promote "sound aviation policy" that will bring it back to profitability. While Kerry supported loans for struggling airlines and other initiatives post-Sept. 11, he believes the carriers must develop viable long-term business plans. As president Kerry would enact "sound fiscal policies that will help the economy get back on track, which will in turn help the airlines," campaign sources said. On air traffic control, aides said as president Kerry would "take steps to ameliorate" the pending air-traffic controller shortage, noting that without the controllers "runway construction is a moot point." Kerry supports the current method for funding security with the government assuming most of the congressionally imposed cost for baggage and passenger screening, while the rest should continue to come from passenger security fees that were added after Sept. 11. He also wants the government to pay for its mandates on shoulder-fired missile protection, but will wait until he has all the facts before deciding on that issue, his sources said. Lobbyists who represent the airlines believe that a Kerry presidency, while good for labor, might not correct the management-labor relations problems that continue plaguing the industry. "I believe there is a fundamental imbalance in the management and labor relationship" that Kerry will not correct, one Hill lobbyist said, noting that it is a "root problem for the industry...It simply is a case where labor has too much power and the wage spiral and silly work rules are a symptom of it." A Kerry presidency backed by labor would make it difficult for the senator to champion efforts to rebalance reforms, he said. Kerry stands by the current collective bargaining process and would not encourage congressional intervention. Real differences between a Republican and Democratic administration would likely show up most acutely in appointments to key agency posts. While Kerry's people said he would not comment on who might fill posts at DOT or OMB, agencies' priorities will shift under a Democrat and this will be most visible at OMB, Hill lobbyists say. Republican-led OMBs are much more aggressive in discouraging agency rulemaking proposals that impose new regulation, said a lobbyist who has regular dealings with the agency. "They are more aggressive in leaning toward deregulation, which is philosophically where you would expect to see from them," he said. He cited CRS regulations as an example, noting that DOT would have continued pursuing those rules but that OMB put a stop to it under the Republican watch. It "put the DOT out of the business of re-regulating CRS," he said. A Democratic OMB would also lean more favorably toward environmental and consumer rules, he added. "The Department itself may not vacillate or change much but there would be change" in how the White House allowed OMB to decide which initiatives they could influence. One Republican lobbyist said that someone outside the Senate will have to give Kerry an aviation vision, "and he will be one with it despite having no nexus to his tenure in the Senate." This lobbyist likened Kerry's understanding of aviation to Boston Logan Airport's passenger security before and after Sept. 11 -- too little and then too much, which resulted in neither effectiveness nor efficiency. Roger EWROPS