There is a growing, but little-known, situation that could come to significantly impact businesses across Florida. For the airspace above our state, commercial airliners, carrying hundreds of travelers, should be the more immediate concern, but, due to a “first come, first serve” outlook, a commercial flight filled to capacity receives the same priority as a private airplane with a handful of passengers.
Along with the space economy – with its numerous launches from Cape Canaveral – and unpredictable weather, commercial airlines are facing further challenges delivering passengers on time. Especially when many Americans are looking forward to a vacation on the beach, delays, cancellations, and reduced options will cause more stress and more cut travel plans which businesses will, in turn, begin to see affect their bottom lines.
If potential visitors cannot rely on reaching Florida without consistently running into these problems, they will start to look elsewhere. The federal government – including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and NASA – should evaluate the current policies and arrive at fixes which serve the millions of passengers who come here each year.
Frank De Varona is the Chairman of the Miami-based Keep Government Accountable
