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Andrews and Sestak hosted a conference call Friday, in which they detailed their ambitions to have the FAA plan altered. Sestak met with FAA Administrator Marion Blakey and House Committee on Transportation Chairman James Oberstar, a Minnesota Democrat.
The congressmen said these are the people who can change the FAA plans to redesign the airspace around the airport, a plan FAA officials claim will maximize airport efficiency and reduce delay times.
"There are other options to pursue here," Sestak said, adding his goal is the "ultimate removal of all noise and impact on my district."
Blakey and Oberstar listened to his concerns, Sestak, said, but no agreements were made. The time was spent critiquing the FAA’s noise mitigation report, which is a compromised version of their original plan. The new plan significantly reduces the noise impact over Delaware County residents, according to the FAA.
Sestak said that wasn’t good enough and he and Andrews criticized the FAA for two major flaws they perceive in the current plan: First, the delay times will only be reduced by four minutes per flight; second, there is no cost estimate on the implementation of the plan.
Andrews said it is absurd to not have any idea how much the new plan will cost taxpayers, and said the only figures he’s heard so far are "between $150 and $250 million.
"This (plan) is a colossal mistake," Andrews said. "I asked (Blakey) how much was it going to cost, and the answer was, ‘We don’t know.’"
Money will go to new software, additional training for air traffic controllers and a new FAA facility, Andrews said.
Andrews indicated 81 percent of airport delays are due to the weather, and wondered aloud if the FAA has a "magical formula to change the weather.
"If they don’t, this (plan) isn’t going to make any difference," Andrews said.
