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(Adds comments from Calio, industry and regulatory context, paragraphs 3-9) by David Shepardson
The longtime director of the trade group Airlines for America, who helped U.S. airlines secure $54 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds, will retire at the end of the year.
Nick Calio, a former aide to President George W. Bush, has since 2011 led the influential airline lobbying group that includes American Airlines AAL.O, Delta Air Lines DAL.N, United Airlines UAL.O, FedEx FDX.N and Southwest Airlines LUV.N. He also pushed for more funding for air traffic controllers and fought with the Biden administration over regulatory efforts.
Congress approved $54 billion in three installments, covering most of U.S. airlines’ payroll costs for 18 months during the pandemic. Mr Calio also defended measures taken by airlines to stay afloat as passenger traffic collapsed.
Last year, Mr. Calio urged the Biden administration to take rapid action to address the shortage of air traffic controllers and obsolescence of facilities and technology.
“The status quo is not enough,” Mr. Calio said in a speech in Washington last year. “This is an urgent problem. It’s easy to ignore in everyday life, but we need to develop a plan to solve it
President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg have repeatedly opposed the airlines, while Airlines for America and some carriers convinced a U.S. appeals court last year to block the new rule of USDOT on the advance disclosure of airline fees, pending a full review.
The Federal Aviation Administration is still about 3,000 controllers behind its staffing goals and has about 10,600 certified controllers.
In June, the FAA again extended reductions in minimum flight requirements at congested New York-area airports until October 2025, citing a shortage of air traffic controllers.
Airlines have successfully fought against numerous Congressional proposals in recent years, including a proposal to impose “reasonable” baggage fees, a proposal to impose compensation for delays caused by airlines or another proposal that could seriously harm profitable airline credit card businesses.
