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[quote user="blue streak 1"] Samantha:Since you are a pilot you should know the problems with the NYC TCA and Tracon. especially in weather and the weekend flyers in NJ on weekends. These proposed NYC limitations will probably dry up the short haul market. (however I wonder if they will ever go into effect knowing how slow the DOT operates.(this is a US DOT proposal). My airline will go for the routes that can get the most bang for the fuel buck. Low altitude jet operations are fuel guzzlers (turbo props to a lesser extent and maybe some regionals may have to go back to them even though there is much passenger resistance). The proposed restrictions are not total aircraft I believe but the equivalent aircraft and my post I did not list the 2 minute separation behind a heavy jet. (B-757 and higher). Yes air traffic would be reduced. A-319s, B-737-700,800,900s are not regional jets. They are 4+ hour range jets. Regional jets are CRJs , Bombardier, etc. (barbie jets). Absolutely people are going to continue to fly; however we expect the short haul trips to be severly reduced. Aviation week published figures for the quarter ending September 30, 2007 where some regional carrier's fuel costs were as high as 44% of total operating costs and also the prediction that MESA ( your neck of the woods) might go into CHAP 11 by the end of this calendar year. Who knows what regional fuel costs are now. Anyway its more driving for all of us.This points to the many people in the northeast who don't own cars and must take public transportation. If our airlines cut back on the short hauls some people will want to take the train. I read a blurb that AMTRAK is going to try more capacity control by varying car count and will get away from the fixed consists that have been on the regional trains. Do you know any specifics? Of course AMTRAK'S cost structure will cause them to loose money on every full car added which may cause them to loose more money! [/quote]Low altitudes are murder on jet fuel consumption.  I don't know how high the New York to Washington shuttle flights normally operate, but between Dallas and Houston they get up to flight level 27 and 28, which is not as bad on fuel consumption as flight level 22.  But it really does not matter if the operator can charge enough to turn a profit.  Larger airplanes, reduced capacity, etc. could help make it a reality.  As per the recent announcements by United and Continental, it looks like capacity will shrink.  This is an important step in returning the airlines to profitability.I understand that the restrictions to be imposed on the New York airports relate to the number of arrivals and departures.  The size of the airplane would only be a factor to the extent that the separation, once airborne, for aircraft following heavy airplanes is greater than for smaller airplanes.  On take-off in a smaller airplane, the trick is to get off the ground before the heavy did; on landing the name of the game is to land beyond the point that the heavy touched down.  Of course Boeing 737s, Airbus A-319s, etc. are not regional jets.  I did not mean to imply that they are the same.  I meant to say that these are the airplanes used for the short flights in the NEC.  In 1996, on a flight to Melbourne, Australia, via Auckland, NZ, I had an opportunity to ride on the flight deck of a Qantas 747-400 from Auckland to Melbourne.  I was amazed at that big bird's nimbleness.  It is ungainly on the ground, but once it is airborne, it is a piece of cake to fly.  I looked on Travelocity for flights from Washington to Boston for August 15th.  I found 41 non-stop flights.  A significant percentage of them are operated with regional jets.  I would not be surprise to see many of these airplanes disappear from the schedule in the fall.I have heard that Amtrak is planning to vary the number of cars on its NEC trains depending on anticipated load factors.  Doing so makes sense if the cost of adding and deleting of cars does not offset the cost savings.  Also, whether is makes sense to add a car to a train depends on the revenue/cost structure.  As a rule, if additional capacity generates enough revenue to cover the variable costs and contribute something to the fixed costs, it is a wise move to increase capacity.  The key number is the amount of incremental revenue would be realized by adding another car.
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