FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 14, 2013

CONTACT: Stefan Friedman (646) 241-7786

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT ON TENNIS CLIMB WOULD FLY IN WRONG DIRECTION FOR NEW YORK AREA AIRPORTS
Lengthy and unnecessary EIS would stall desperately needed improvements proven to reduce air traffic delays and improve environmental conditions
(NEW YORK): Conducting an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the TNNIS Climb flight takeoff pattern at LaGuardia Airport (known as the Tennis Climb) would be unproductive and would delay much-need improvements to all New York Metropolitan airports, numerous Board Members of the Global Gateway Alliance wrote in a letter sent today to Federal Aviation Authority Administrator Huerta [Letter below]. With the worst flight delays in the country costing the New York Metro region tens of billions of dollars in economic activity, this is no time to put up roadblocks to reform, said GGA Chairman Joseph J. Sitt. The Tennis Climb has reduced delays, emissions and fuel consumption at both LaGuardia and JFK. That is a winning combination for New York. The Tennis Climb, in place since May, is a precision takeoff pattern, utilizing newer GPS-based technology, which allows planes leaving LaGuardia to follow a flight path taking them out of JFK airspace. The pattern provides JFK with additional runway capacity, rather than having to accommodate for less precise takeoffs from nearby LaGuardia. Taken together, these improvements help reduce delays, as well as emissions from circling planes and overall noise, because planes can glide out utilizing the new pattern. During an initial test period in February 2012, the Tennis Climb: Slashed delays at JFK nearly in half with average delays falling from 45.7 minutes to 25.3 minutes. Reduced the total number of delayed planes to 12, nearly 200 fewer than in a previous study conducted over the same length of time when the Tennis Climb was not in place. Allowed JFK to utilize all 4 of its runways at once, rather than the 3 it has operated on for decades to avoid LaGuardia takeoffs.

When flights are able to take off and land on time, airlines, airports, and, most important, passengers all come out as winners, said GGA Executive Director Steve Sigmund. Unnecessary delays will impede on the progress made by this program and will have a detrimental impact on both our environment and our economy.

In addition to calling on the FAA to reject the request from a local Queens community group to conduct a new EIS, GGA suggested greater public input and noise monitoring to allay and mitigate the concerns of residents living near airports. Neighboring communities must be respected in this process, but any effort to derail or stop the implementation of the Tennis Climb will take us backwards as we search for ways to decrease congestion and delays at our metropolitan airports, Sitt continued. The Tennis Climb has shown extraordinary results in its test period and we must allow it to reach its full potential. Losing billions of dollars in lost wages and productivity due to air traffic delays is unacceptable. We should be looking for ways to reverse that trend, not contribute toward it. ### ABOUT GGA Global Gateway Alliance (GGA), was established to address the major challenges facing the metropolitan regions airports and related infrastructure that, if left unaddressed, will serve as a major impediment to the long-term growth of New York City and surrounding areas. By harnessing the expertise of leaders in business, government, academia, labor and other sectors, we seek to tackle these challenges head-on and serve as the leading advocate in an effort to improve our airports and facilitate the continued growth of the region. For more information regarding the Global Gateway Alliance, please visit www.globalgatewayalliance.org. Follow GGA on Twitter @GGA_NYNJ and Like the organization on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/UsqxGw. GGAs board of directors includes: Joe Sitt (Chairman), CEO, Thor Equities; Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union; Chris Giamo, Regional President for TD Bank; Dan Glickman former Congressman and U.S. Agriculture Secretary; David Hopkins, Senior Director of Aviation at the New York City Economic Development Corporation; Jared Kushner, Owner of Kushner Properties and the New York Observer; George Miranda, Teamsters International Vice President; Mitchell Moss, Henry Hart Rice Professor of Urban Policy and Planning at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University; William Rudin, CEO of Rudin Management Company, Inc. and Chairman of ABNY; Joseph Spinnato, President of the Hotel Association of New York City; Alvin S. Trenk, Chairman and CEO of Air Pegasus Corp; Peter Ward, President of the Hotel Trades Council on New York; Kathryn Wylde, President of the Partnership for New York City, and Tim Zagat, Co-Founder and Co-Chair of Zagat Survey

November 14, 2013 FAA Administrator Michael Huerta Federal Aviation Administration 800 Independence Ave, SW Washington, DC 20591 Dear Administrator Huerta: We are writing today to urge you not to conduct an Environmental Impact Statement for the TNNIS Climb flight takeoff pattern at LaGuardia Airport -- despite calls from some in the local community to do so. Such a step would take us backwards in relieving chronic air traffic delays at New York City area airports that are costing our economy billions in lost wages and productivity, and damaging our environment. The Global Gateway Alliance (GGA) is a business, labor, government and academia organization dedicated to improving New York City metropolitan airports and related infrastructure. GGA has conducted its own research and held a number of discussions with representatives of airlines, the Port Authority and community groups. We believe the TNNIS Climb is a critical component in helping our airports advance, along with our regional economy. Since being enacted in May, The TNNIS Climb has helped reduce delays, emissions and fuel consumption not only at LaGuardia, but at nearby John F. Kennedy International as well. A local community group, however, called Queens Quiet Skies, has expressed concern over perceptions of increased noise levels that it says are associated with the TNNIS Climb. This group is calling for a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) by the FAA a lengthy, expensive, and exhaustive process often taking multiple years. The three major New York City area airports are the most congested and delayed in the country. Most glaringly, with more than 1.2 million flights annually, the congestion in the New York airspace contributes to between half and three-quarters of all air traffic delays in the country every day. The delays are so bad that it now takes 50 percent longer to fly between New York and Boston than it did in the 1950s. Without alleviating flight delays and congestion, New York area airports will be unable to grow and add capacity. The more precise flight path created by the TNNIS Climb is an important element in addressing this challenge. LaGuardia and JFK are just a few short miles apart, meaning that air traffic controllers are forced to manage takeoffs and landings for the runways at both airports together. As a result, for decades JFK has only been able to use three of its four runways at a time. The TNNIS Climb allows planes taking off from LaGuardia to stay out of JFKs airspace, providing for the use of all four of its runways. In fact, the average delay time at JFK fell from 45.7 minutes to 25.3 minutes during a TNNIS Climb test period in February 2012. Just as dramatically, only 12 planes were delayed at JFK due to local congestion during the test period, 192 fewer than a previous study conducted over the same length of time.

This more precise flight path is also a crucial early step in implementing NextGen; the new GPS based air traffic control system designed to replace the decades old radar based system that contributes to so much of the gridlock in the skies. The implementation of this program has already suffered from setbacks and delays, and your Administration has yet to commit to prioritizing New York for NextGen despite our impact on the rest of the countrys air traffic. Anything that sets NextGen back further in New York is a mistake. It is our understanding that an environmental review of the TNNIS Climb procedure was conducted and concluded that that there was no significant impact, thus no additional review was required. Conducting a full EIS now would derail the progress in delay reduction that the procedure has made, reverse the environmental benefits of the program and further impede NextGen. That said, we do agree that greater public input and noise monitoring should be in place to ensure that precision navigation is delivering on its promise over the long term. The backlash from some communities and public officials over the TNNIS Climb demonstrates the need for a fully transparent process as the FAA rolls out NextGen initiatives, and a much more open dialogue. We appreciate the opportunity to offer GGAs perspective on this important advance in improving New York area airports and stand ready to discuss these issues with you further.
Sincerely, Joe Sitt
Chairman, GGA CEO, Thor Equities

Joseph Spinnato
Board Member, GGA Chairman & CEO, The Hotel Association of New York

Stuart Applebaum
Vice-President, GGA President, Retail, Wholesale, &Department Store Union

Al Trenk
Board Member, GGA Chairman & CEO, Air Pegasus Group

Chris Giamo
Board Member, GGA Regional President Metro NY Region, TD Bank

Peter Ward
Board Member, GGA President, New York Hotel Trades Council President

David Hopkins
Board Member, GGA Senior Director of Aviation, NYCEDC

Kathryn Wylde
Board Member, GGA President & CEO, Partnership for New York City

George Miranda
Board Member, GGA International VP & President Joint Council 16, Teamsters

Tim Zagat
Board Member, GGA Co-Founder & Co-Chair, Zagat Survey

William Rudin Board Member, GGA Chairman, Association for a Better New York

Stephen Sigmund Executive Director Global Gateway Alliance

CC: Patrick Foye, Executive Director, Port Authority of NY & NJ Tom Bosco, Interim Director of Aviation Department, Port Authority of NY & NJ Carmine Gallo, Regional Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration