Airports Welcome FAA/DOT Forum on Better Managing Aircraft Diversions

Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) President Greg Principato issued the following statement in response to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announcement that they will be holding a forum on November 30 to find better ways to manage aircraft diversions.

“I applaud DOT and FAA for convening this forum and we and our member airports look forward to participating. As I noted in my editorial in the USA Today on November 3, we at ACI-NA believe that this coordination is the key to both avoiding extended tarmac delays in the first place and minimizing their impacts to passengers in cases where they do occur. We hope that this is the first of several meaningful steps in this direction.”

Principato continued, “At the forum, we look forward to discussing how we can manage diverted flights more effectively starting with how the airlines and FAA make decisions regarding where to divert, long before aircraft are stuck on the ground. Airports stand ready to assist the FAA and the airlines with information about how many diverted aircraft they can accept, what types of aircraft they can accommodate, what facilities and equipment are available to service these aircraft, and what limitations exist with respect to accommodating international passengers.”