Chris Sununu (2:40)

Well, look, I think the airlines handled it amazingly, especially for the first 30 or 40 days. There were actually very few cancellations at the time. If you remember, things slowed down, there were some delays, but we did get people where they were going. Even though there were a lot of air traffic controller callouts and all that, I think they did an amazing job there. When the forced cancellations came in that last week where the government said you have to cancel certain flights, the big challenge there was actually making sure the plane from, let's say Boston to Kansas City, that would later go on to la. If you cancel that first leg, there's no actual plane to take people from Kansas City to la. So they were moving crews, they were moving assets, they were moving everything around. And it was a logistics circus, but they did a great job, I think, in terms of making sure it was there. And that leads us to the holiday. Right. And so it's going to be busy, it's going to be exciting, but the airlines are ready. It's been a heavy, heavy year, but they're growing and they're ready to handle the capacity now.

Georgia Howe (3:31)

For a long time we've been hearing about this air traffic control crisis. Is there still a crisis and if so, what, what are we doing to address it?

Chris Sununu (3:39)

Well, there's not a crisis right now per se. I think there's a lack of controllers and we're trying to get more people in the system, make sure that the training is there, the expertise is there and that process speeds up. There's a lot of delays in it that just aren't really necessary. So I think what the FAA administrator, Brian Bedford, Sean Duffy, they get it and they are kind of breaking down a lot of the bureaucracy and those barriers to encourage more people to come in, to make sure they get certified faster, get them in the towers and keep the whole system more resilient. And at the time, same, same time, you have this thing called air traffic control modernization. We're getting away from, I mean literally floppy disks and paper strips and this old school coating that is really from the early 90s. The government just hasn't done their part up until now of kind of updating that system. Well, this past year they did. This administration did a great job. Senator Cruz did a great job putting money down. Not just to, you know, let's give us some credit for putting some money somewhere but saying we need results, we need a whole modernized system that makes everything more efficient, faster, a better experience for the customer, better experience for the airlines and really bringing this national airspace, which is unlike any other in the world, you know, really to that preeminent gold standard that we know it can be.

Georgia Howe (4:48)

Now, have those changes been rolled out by now or is that still in process?

Chris Sununu (4:53)

It's just starting really. So the dollars were appropriated a few months ago. They have what they call an integrator, kind of a lead engineering group that will drive a lot of these processes. But to the FAA's credit, I mean, look, one thing you got to say about this administration, they are moving. They do not slow down for bureaucracy. They don't wait for anyone. And that's a great thing, right? They're moving at their speed and the speed that the American public needs them to. So they're already replacing copper into fiber. They're doing some of the computer and new equipment transfers that have to happen in the towers. They're looking at new facilities, they're looking at new simulator technologies, things like that. And so that's all. I was doing a tour about two weeks ago, actually right before Thanksgiving of some of the new stuff that's going in. And it's all not just an idea, it's all in process. It's being developed, it's being implemented. I think you're going to see some real big wins for the air traffic controllers in the airline industry in just the next six months.

Georgia Howe (5:47)

Now that's not the only change that's being made that's on the engineering side. But in terms of customer experience, we're hearing that there's also some MAHA changes that are happening in airports specifically. There's a Department of Transportation initiative for some gyms, playgrounds, some other health oriented upgrades. What do we know about that?

Chris Sununu (6:08)

Well, I'll say this. I, you know, I think the customer experience with airlines over the past few years has become phenomenal. Right. Airports themselves are getting, they're getting bigger, they're getting more robust. Some of them are like high end shopping malls. And I think what the secretary is talking about is kind of completing that mission of making sure that, okay, we have all these great restaurant choices, there's going to be healthier choices or things to do or you know, things to kind of, you Know whether it's working out or taking care of yourself, your personal health in those kind of times when you're waiting for the next flight to take off or whatever it might be, I think it's great. They understand travel is an experience. TSA did their part. We created pre check and clear. You can get through a TSA line in two minutes now in some places, as opposed to the two hour waits, you know, we used to have, you know, nobody smokes in airplanes anymore. That's great. There's more choices and like I said, most importantly, it's more affordable. More Americans travel now than ever before because all this competition, especially on the domestic side, has really reduced prices and made it affordable for so many families that otherwise maybe couldn't have made that trip or businesses that had to do everything remotely, but now they can afford spending a little extra money building those personal relationships on the business side of things. So the entire experience has been raised. There's no question about it. I think they just say we're not done. We're going to take it to the next level. And I think that's a great thing for the entire air system. And that traveler experience you mentioned that.

Georgia Howe (7:26)

It'S become more affordable. Basically nothing in the world has become more affordable in the past few years. So is there hard data that flights are the one exception?

Chris Sununu (7:35)

Yeah. So look over the since 2019, you know, if you add all the inflationary pressures that have come for various reasons, you know, the average product in America has probably gone up about 30, 32% when you compound the inflation. Airlines 1%, I think it's increased. The average domestic ticket has actually increased about 1% in five or six years. So that's well below inflation. Right. That's almost a defl. Inflationary type ticket. And again, that's because they're competing more. There's more options for folks. They know they have to bring those prices down, more transparency on prices. And look, you want to bring a bag, pay to bring a bag. If you don't, you don't get charged for it. Right. They're trying to make sure that whether maybe if you have a disability, there's options there for you. If you're older, there's options there for you. Nobody should be cut out of the travel experience. And I think the airlines are doing everything they can to make those investments, put those dollars in to make sure that everyone gets to, you know, be part of this great American thing. It's not just a thing. It's a, it's a, it's a strategic national asset. Right. If you think about it on a worldwide scale. But for some folks, it's just the opportunity to go visit a loved one that they didn't get to see for a while or expand a business in a way that they didn't think was possible before. So we take that responsibility very seriously in the airline industry. It's a group effort, and it's just been a terrific journey and there's so much more to go. I think that's the exciting part ahead.

Georgia Howe (8:52)

All right. Well, Governor, thank you so much for coming on today.

Chris Sununu (8:55)

You bet.

Georgia Howe (8:57)

That was CEO of Airlines for America, Chris Sununu. And this has been a weekend edition of MORNING wire.

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