During a visit to Washington recently, IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani urged US officials not to employ congestion pricing at crowded US airports such as New York JFK and described President George W. Bush’s recent efforts to alleviate flight delays as "a political placebo for a serious long-term illness," according to an ATWOnline report.
Bisignani met with US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters yesterday morning and, while telling reporters following a luncheon speech to the Aero Club of Washington that it would be "inelegant" to disclose the substance of their conversation, made it clear he believes DOT would make a major mistake if it attempted to impose flight caps and "peak pricing" at JFK and other airports.
"Instead of addressing the problem, DOT wants to change the way people travel by making it more expensive to fly at peak times," he said. "We don’t have one example of congestion pricing working anywhere in the world."