KSFR Local
(2008-08-05)
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It's the long-awaited public comment opportunity regarding the FAA's environmental impact assessment.
A special display ad regarding the 7PM, August 13th meeting at the Genoveva Chavez community center is set to run in this Friday and Sunday's edition of the New Mexican.
Plans for jet service were announced last year by both Delta and American Eagle airlines. The companies were confidently promoting daily non-stops to cities such as Salt Lake, Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles. American Eagle even began to sell tickets for December 2007 flights, anticipating that the standard FAA approval would follow a nominal timeline. But there were concerns raised by Santa Domingo Pueblo and other area residents about the impact flights would have on lands under the air traffic corridors leading to Santa Fe. That slowed the FAA's final report, taking more than a year for completion.
In the interim, as the nation's economy soured overall, the nation's airlines began to trim services and personnel as fuel prices soared and cut into profit margins. The Albuquerque Sunport will see a discontinuation of some less-profitable routes such as Continental Airlines non-stop flights to Newark International and Southwest's Airlines non-stop to Baltimore. As for Delta and American Eagle, spokespersons for the airlines say they'll make no final decisions on Santa Fe service until the FAA environmental assessment is complete and approved.
Roland Herwig, public affairs spokesman for the FAA's southwest regional office says the process is not yet over.
Read the FAA assessment here. © Copyright 2009, KSFR
