=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/c/a/2007/12/26/EDI8U45LJ.= DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, December 26, 2007 (SF Chronicle) Stopping point/Congestion-busting starts at JFK After a horrible summer, airlines have agreed to participate in new federal standards that will cap the number of flights entering and exiting New York's John F. Kennedy International airport during peak periods. It's nice to see that the government is paying attention to travelers' woes, but this isn't the right program. JFK is one of the country's most congested and trouble-ridden airports, but there's no evidence that capping flights is going to help. Other factors have been just as important in creating the national flight crisis. Airports all over the country need additional capacity, but few communities want to grant it. It's been well-publicized that our air traffic control system is outdated, but the cost to upgrade is about $15 billion - and no one wants to pay for it. Capping flights instead of simultaneously addressing these other problems is likely to raise costs for consumers and throw international flight schedules into disarray. There's a reason why everyone wants to fly at peak times. If you travel internationally through JFK, expect longer layovers and less convenient arrival times to your destination. The other part of the government plan, an "auction" for new flight spots as airport capacity increases, prizes bad free market ideology over common sense: the strategy is likely to punish smaller, cheaper airlines and drive up everyone's fares. Our advice? Buy your tickets now. -----------------------= ----------------------------------------------- Copyright 2007 SF Chronicle <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".