U.S. Chamber Cites Air Transportation Capacity Crisis Plans February 2001 National Summit

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Chamber of Commerce said solutions to the nation's air transportation problems required the effort of all industry sectors and applauded today's White House announcement that CSX Chairman and Chamber member John Snow was appointed to the new air infrastructure oversight committee. The Chamber will hold a National Summit of administration officials, congressional leaders, airline industry executives and technology companies to address the air capacity crisis on February 1-2, 2001.

"It's time to stop finger-pointing and start problem-solving to make the air traffic system safe and dependable for passengers and goods," said Greg Lebedev, Chamber chief operating officer and Managing Director of the National Chamber Foundation, the public policy arm of the U.S. Chamber. "It's not about flight delays and bad food – it's about making sure the new, just-in-time economy works."

A record number of airline flights are delayed or cancelled, stranding thousands of passengers and interrupting the shipment of millions of packages, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

"The capacity crisis has become a bottleneck situation that could undermine future growth in the U.S. economy. Almost every business relies on dependable air transportation to move people and goods," said Lebedev. "Without a concerted effort to resolve the problems of the airline system, further gridlock is inevitable and the safety net for airline travel will be stretched."

The U.S. Chamber and the NCF will host an Air Transportation Summit in Washington, D.C., February 1-2, where regulators, industry and customers can debate solutions to issues including: demand, infrastructure and safety.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector and region.

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