The US air travel system faces a record-breaking summer but is struggling to handle “intense and growing demand” after years of under-investment.
The US Travel Association cited a lack of funding for the Federal Aviation Administration, insufficient funds for air traffic control staffing, and increasing demands on the regulator’s resources, including new technologies like drones and advanced air mobility.
President and chief executive Geoff Freeman warned that lengthy wait times for arriving passengers at US customs checkpoints – a result of understaffing and diversion of resources by Customs and Border Protection at gateway airports – is a growing concern, compounding the full recovery of international inbound travel.
The association says $4.5 billion is needed for air traffic control infrastructure and technology in addition to funding to hire 1,800 new air traffic controllers a year over the next three years, “while fixing the staffing model to ensure the controllers are in the right places”.
The trade body hit out as it released the results of a poll showing that more than half of all Americans (53%) and 81% of leisure travellers have trips planned in the next six months.
More than a quarter of Americans (26%) also plan to increase the amount they spend on leisure travel in the next three months.
The new survey comes just weeks after the FAA asked airlines to pull back slots at airports in New York and Washington DC this summer due to a lack of air traffic controllers.
While demand is strong now, there is concern these inefficiencies could drive travellers away in the long term.
Over half of Americans (52%) say they would travel more for leisure in the next six months if the travel experience was not as much of a hassle, significantly more than survey results reflected in the first quarter of the year (29%).
Freeman said: “Americans are paying the price of years of chronic under-investment in technology and staffing by the federal government in our nation’s air travel system.
“Air travellers are right to be frustrated and to demand more from Washington.”
He added: “The success of America’s travel industry requires an air travel system that is modern, efficient, dependable and secure.
“Congress can make the critical investments now for our air travel system to meet demand for the future and ensure that our economy can continue to grow.”