Letters to the Editor
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Expand Infrastructure
What Patrick is proposing is an HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lane for airplanes. The HOV lane works on the Long Island Expressway - I scoot past congested traffic every day in my Prius, even thought I'm driving alone. In theory, high volume airplanes could be given priority at peak times. The problem would be, given the spock-and-hub system, how would the RJs connect to the larger jets in a timely way? Perhaps a system could be divised where RJs that must connect to larger flights are given priority over those that don't, but how could this be done, given that a RJ would have some passengers who need to connect and others who don't? I think it would be impossible to manage the complexity of this system. Ultimately, the only solution to reduce air traffic congestion is to expand infrastructure - more airports, runways and taxiways are needed because more people are flying - it's that simple. By the way, Patrick, I would love to see more articles on other issues - for example alternative fuels for airplanes when the oil runs out, as it most certainly will.