US Airways to U.S.: We can’t afford new traffic control

US Airways CEO Doug Parker told the Obama administration today that the airline industry supports a proposed new satellite-based national air traffic control system, but does not have the money to pay for it.

If the cost of replacing the current radar airspace system is to be funded by higher taxes and fees on airlines, "we prefer to live without it," Parker said in a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who hosted a forum in Washington on the health and future of the airline industry.

US Airways, of Tempe, Ariz., transports two-thirds of the passengers at Philadelphia International Airport.

Since 2001, U.S. airlines have lost nearly $60 billion, with $27 billion of those losses since oil prices spiked and the global recession last year, Parker wrote. Most airlines have borrowed heavily against assets and have "little or no ability to raise additional capital," he said.

He stressed, however, that the industry was not seeking a government bailout. "Our request is to simply let us run our businesses."

Parker urged the federal government not to impose additional taxes, fees and "unfunded mandates" on an already overtaxed industry, and to allow airlines to make business decisions, such as forming alliances and joint ventures or mergers, without interference.

   - Linda Loyd