Commercial carriers in the US will carry a billion passengers each year by 2015, according to a new report by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Several of the country’s key hubs will also grow by as much as 68 percent in the next seven years, the investigation concludes. Washington Dulles will experience the greatest growth (68 percent), followed by New York JFK (59 percent), Los Angeles International (54 percent), and Atlanta-Hartsfield (38 percent).
Justifying the need for significant aviation reform, Mary Peters, US Secretary of Transportation, said that air traffic was on track to rise by the equivalent of two major airports each year, for the next 13 years.
Flight delays cost the US economy $10 billion annually and, as passenger numbers continue to rise, hold-ups will only get worse unless air traffic control systems are updated, Peters warned.
“The freedom that flying has brought our lives is being challenged by delays in our current aviation system,” she said. “Replacing our dated air traffic control architecture with a 21st century satellite-based system will return freedom, convenience, and reliability to the skies.”
The FAA Aerospace Forecast Fiscal Years 2007-2020 predicts that 768 million fliers will be carried by commercial US carriers this year, rising to 1.2 billion by 2020.
© Adfero Ltd
