Transcript - Remarks: Donald Trump Listening Session with Airline Executives - February 9, 2017 | Factba.se

Donald Trump

00:00:00 - 00:00:26 (26 sec)

Nothing like having meetings in the White House. Good place. Good place for meetings. Good place for a lot of things. People don't realize I inherited a mess. A big mess. I think they know. I think they understand.

Donald Trump

00:00:26 - 00:00:54 (28 sec)

Well, thank you all. I know so many of you through reading and through business magazines, and you've done an amazing job. And I want to congratulate you. I know you're under pressure from a lot of foreign elements and foreign carriers. I've been hearing that a little bit. At the same time, we want to make life good for them also. They come with big investments -- in many cases, those investments are made by their governments. But they are still big investments.

Donald Trump

00:00:54 - 00:01:11 (17 sec)

I'm thrilled to welcome the leaders of the airline industry to the White House. Your industry supports over 10 million well-paying U.S. jobs and creates almost $1 trillion in economic activity, which is really big stuff, really amazing.

Donald Trump

00:01:11 - 00:01:31 (20 sec)

Last year, our airlines moved approximately 2 million people each day in our country, which is an incredible number of people. And they move them well -- despite the bad equipment that the airports give you in many cases, because they can't get approvals, and we had regulatory morass that's a disaster.

Donald Trump

00:01:31 - 00:02:54 (83 sec)

And I can tell you that a lot of the new equipment that already is obsolete the day they order it -- and that's according to people that know, including my pilot. I have a pilot who's a real expert, and he said, sir, the equipment they're putting on is just the wrong stuff. And we'll talk about that. Because if we're going to modernize our systems, we should be using the right equipment. And I know Mr. Tilden is nodding. You know what I mean. It's one thing to order equipment, but let's order the right equipment. Probably the wrong equipment costs more. You can probably buy the right equipment for less money. So we want to talk about that. Because my pilot, he's a smart guy, and knows what's going on. He said the government is using the wrong equipment and instituting a massive, multibillion-dollar project, but they're using the wrong type of equipment. So let's find out about that.

Donald Trump

00:02:54 - 00:03:23 (29 sec)

We want the traveling public to have the greatest customer service, with an absolute minimum of delays and with great convenience all at the lowest possible cost. We want to help you realize these goals, and we will indeed help you realize these goals. Airports are very important when you travel. Very important.

Donald Trump

00:03:23 - 00:05:10 (107 sec)

As an example, some of you were saying yesterday to me that you go to China, you go to Japan, they have fast trains all over the place. We don't have one. I don't want to compete with your business -- [Laughter] -- but we don't have one fast train. And it's the same thing with our airports. Our airports used to be the best. Now they're at the bottom of the rung. We've spent $6 trillion -- think of it -- as of about two months ago, $6 trillion in the Middle East. We've got nothing. We've got nothing. We never even kept just even a little tiny oil well. Not one little one. I said, keep the oil. But we've spent right now $6 trillion in the Middle East. We have nothing. And we have an obsolete plane system, we have obsolete airports, we have obsolete trains. We have bad roads. We're going to change all of that, folks. You're going to be so happy with Trump. I think you already are.

Donald Trump

00:05:10 - 00:06:34 (84 sec)

So we want to help you realize these goals by rolling back burdensome regulations. And you people are regulated probably as much as almost anybody, although I can think of a couple of industries that are even worse. Lowering the overall tax burden on American businesses big league. That's coming along very well. Way ahead of schedule, I believe. And we're going to be announcing something, I would say, over the next two or three weeks that will be phenomenal in terms of tax, and developing our aviation infrastructure.

Donald Trump

00:06:34 - 00:07:34 (60 sec)

Again, I want to thank you all for being here. So I want this to be a meeting of substance. I want to be able to do things for you. The auto industry was in. They left, they said it was the best meeting they've ever had. I even took them into the Oval Office. The head of Ford, the head of General Motors, the head of Fiat, others -- they never saw the Oval Office. I said, you mean they never took you in? You see how far away it was from the room? Ten feet. It was 10 feet across the hallway, but they never got taken in. I took them in.

Donald Trump

00:07:34 - 00:08:38 (64 sec)

The auto companies are going to be making massive investments in Michigan and Ohio, in Pennsylvania, a lot of the places where jobs have left. So we're really happy about that. They've been great. Ford is going to build -- you know they cancelled a big plant in a certain place, I won't say where -- a $2 billion plant, and they're building it in the United States and they're expanding greatly. General Motors the same thing. They've been great. They've been great. I think they'll continue to be great.

Donald Trump

00:08:38 - 00:09:13 (35 sec)

But we're also going to be great to them. We're going to get rid of a lot of unnecessary regulation, and we're going to make their life a lot easier. They're going to employ a lot more people. So a lot of businesses are rushing in. They're coming in big league.

Donald Trump

00:09:13 - 00:09:40 (27 sec)

So with that, I thought what I would do is perhaps we'll start with Mr. Gray. We'll go around the room and just quickly just say who you are and who you represent. The biggest of the airlines are here.

Staff

00:09:40 - 00:09:48 (8 sec)

Thank you, press.

Donald Trump

00:09:48 - 00:11:03 (75 sec)

And you can -- no, stay, stay, stay. Let them see who's here. [Laughter] Everyone is so quick to get rid of the press. I think I am the most open President ever. [Laughter] They want to get rid of the press. What, you don't want to see who Mr. Gray is? [Laughter] Maybe I should have started with somebody else. [Laughter] Okay, you can stay. Yeah, stay. Stay for a while. See who's here, right? Okay, good.

Myron Gray

00:11:03 - 00:11:17 (14 sec)

Well, thank you, Mr. President. I'm Myron Gray, and I represent the United Parcel Service.

Ginger Evens

00:11:17 - 00:11:27 (10 sec)

I'm Ginger Evens, I'm the Commissioner of Aviation for the city of Chicago.

Bill Flynn

00:11:27 - 00:11:39 (12 sec)

Mr. President, Bill Flynn with Atlas Air.

Rob Wigington

00:11:39 - 00:11:53 (14 sec)

Rob Wigington, CEO for Nashville Airport Authority.

Nick Calio

00:11:53 - 00:12:02 (9 sec)

Nick Calio, Airlines for America. Thank you for having us.

Ed Bastian

00:12:02 - 00:12:12 (10 sec)

Mr. President, Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Airlines.

Donald Trump

00:12:12 - 00:12:18 (6 sec)

Great. Welcome. Delta is doing well.

Ed Bastian

00:12:18 - 00:12:26 (8 sec)

Doing great, and you know we've been neighbors for a long time.

Donald Trump

00:12:26 - 00:12:32 (6 sec)

That's right. That's right, good.

Ed Bastian

00:12:32 - 00:12:38 (6 sec)

Hopefully we've been good to you.

Donald Trump

00:12:38 - 00:12:43 (5 sec)

You've been very good. Thank you.

Robin Hayes

00:12:43 - 00:12:57 (14 sec)

Mr. President, Robin Hayes, CEO of JetBlue Airways. New York's hometown airlines.

Donald Trump

00:12:57 - 00:12:59 (2 sec)

Dave Bronczek

00:12:59 - 00:13:04 (5 sec)

Mr. President, Dave Bronczek, FedEx.

Donald Trump

00:13:04 - 00:13:08 (4 sec)

By the way, Fred Smith was here yesterday.

Dave Bronczek

00:13:08 - 00:13:10 (2 sec)

Donald Trump

00:13:10 - 00:13:13 (3 sec)

He's a great, great guy.

Gary Kelly

00:13:13 - 00:13:17 (4 sec)

Gary Kelly, Southwest Airlines.

Donald Trump

00:13:17 - 00:13:18 (1 sec)

Brad Tilden

00:13:18 - 00:13:39 (21 sec)

Brad Tilden, Alaska Air Group. And we're actually in the process of merging with Virgin America right now.

Donald Trump

00:13:39 - 00:13:46 (7 sec)

Pat Foye

00:13:46 - 00:14:03 (17 sec)

Mr. President, Pat Foye, Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Donald Trump

00:14:03 - 00:14:17 (14 sec)

Great. We spoke a long time ago.

Pat Foye

00:14:17 - 00:14:18 (1 sec)

Donald Trump

00:14:18 - 00:14:21 (3 sec)

And you did a good job.

Pat Foye

00:14:21 - 00:14:23 (2 sec)

Donald Trump

00:14:23 - 00:14:25 (2 sec)

Jack Potter

00:14:25 - 00:14:40 (15 sec)

Mr. President, Jack Potter, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

Kevin Burke

00:14:40 - 00:15:03 (23 sec)

Mr. President, Kevin Burke. I'm the President of Airports Council International-North America, which is every airports in the United States and Canada. Thank you for having us.

Donald Trump

00:15:03 - 00:15:04 (1 sec)

Bill Vanecek

00:15:04 - 00:15:32 (28 sec)

Mr. President, Bill Vanecek. I'm the Director of Aviation for the Buffalo Niagara International Airport and Niagara Falls International Airport. I'm also the chairman of Airports Council International-NA.

Donald Trump

00:15:32 - 00:15:34 (2 sec)

Joe Lopano

00:15:34 - 00:15:45 (11 sec)

Mr. President, good morning. My name is Joe Lopano. I'm from Tampa International Airport.

Oscar Muñoz

00:15:45 - 00:15:57 (12 sec)

Oscar Muñoz with United Airlines. And Mr. Doug Parker from American couldn't be here today.

Donald Trump

00:15:57 - 00:15:59 (2 sec)

Okay. Thank you.

Deborah Flint

00:15:59 - 00:16:17 (18 sec)

Good morning, Mr. President. Deborah Flint, the CEO of Los Angeles World Airports. LAX is the world's seventh largest airport and the country's third largest airport.

Donald Trump

00:16:17 - 00:16:30 (13 sec)

We'll make it number one worldwide. Let's make it number one. [Laughter] I didn't like the number. What is number one now in terms of service?

Deborah Flint

00:16:30 - 00:16:32 (2 sec)

Donald Trump

00:16:32 - 00:16:44 (12 sec)

That's good. We love the state of Georgia. I love Georgia -- I tell you that's for sure. So that's good.

Participant

00:16:44 - 00:16:47 (3 sec)

Number one in the world.

Donald Trump

00:16:47 - 00:17:44 (57 sec)

So let me ask you -- so what can we do to make your airlines better, to make your balance sheet better, to have you get more jobs and create more jobs, to have you win competition worldwide so you can start doing more business worldwide? Because I know you have a lot of competition, and a lot of that competition is subsidized by governments, big league. I've heard that complaint from different people in this room. Probably about one hour after I got elected I was inundated with calls from your industry, and many other industries, because it's a pretty unfair situation.

Donald Trump

00:17:44 - 00:17:53 (9 sec)

What can we do? Give me suggestions that we can make your life easier and that you can employ a lot more people.

Gary Kelly

00:17:53 - 00:17:56 (3 sec)

Well, Mr. President, I'll lead this off.

Donald Trump

00:17:56 - 00:17:57 (1 sec)

Southwest Airlines.

Gary Kelly

00:17:57 - 00:18:16 (19 sec)

Thank you very much for the opportunity to be here. We have never had a meeting like this, certainly in my years at Southwest Airlines. So we're very grateful for this opportunity.

Donald Trump

00:18:16 - 00:18:35 (19 sec)

I want to congratulate you because you have done an amazing job, really amazing job. You really have. So congratulations. Go ahead.

Gary Kelly

00:18:35 - 00:18:53 (18 sec)

I think we're very well aligned with your philosophy. We would welcome tax reform. We would welcome regulatory reform. And very well aligned on the need for infrastructure investment.

Gary Kelly

00:18:53 - 00:19:25 (32 sec)

The single biggest opportunity for aviation is to modernize the air traffic control system. We work very well with our partners in the airports around the table. I know them all and we serve all of these airports and --

Donald Trump

00:19:25 - 00:19:32 (7 sec)

You shouldn't know them too well. [Laughter]

Gary Kelly

00:19:32 - 00:20:02 (30 sec)

Well, they're our landlords. [Laughter] And the only landlord available. But we have billions of dollars' worth of airport projects underway around the country to continue to modernize the airports. We've spent billions of dollars on the air traffic control modernization but it's not making any meaningful progress.

Donald Trump

00:20:02 - 00:20:21 (19 sec)

I hear that. I hear we have the wrong system. I'm hearing that the United States government -- and is the gentleman who's the head of the FAA right now not a pilot? Or is that -- does he --

Gary Kelly

00:20:21 - 00:20:27 (6 sec)

I don't know if he's a pilot or not.

Donald Trump

00:20:27 - 00:20:55 (28 sec)

I'd like to find out because I think it maybe would be good to have a pilot, like a really good pilot who knows what's going on. I've heard that, and, I don't know, it seems a little hard to believe because the complexity of your business is right up there, right?

Gary Kelly

00:20:55 - 00:20:57 (2 sec)

Oh, very much so.

Donald Trump

00:20:57 - 00:21:51 (54 sec)

And I would think you need a very sophisticated person in that job, and somebody that, frankly -- being a pilot would be helpful, because I'm hearing you put the wrong -- I hear the government contracted this system that's the wrong system, and I hear that from pilots. So who would be better to tell me? But I hear we're spending billions and billions of dollars. It's a system that's totally out of whack. It's way over budget, it's way beyond schedule, and when it's completed, it's not going to be a good system. Other than that, it's okay. [Laughter]

Donald Trump

00:21:51 - 00:21:56 (5 sec)

So what do you think about that, Gary?

Gary Kelly

00:21:56 - 00:22:05 (9 sec)

Well, I agree with you. When you have a project that takes that long, it becomes outdated.

Donald Trump

00:22:05 - 00:22:08 (3 sec)

It's already outdated.

Gary Kelly

00:22:08 - 00:22:16 (8 sec)

It's already outdated, no question. And we spent billions of dollars on this.

Donald Trump

00:22:16 - 00:22:22 (6 sec)

Has that been you or the government or both?

Participant

00:22:22 - 00:22:39 (17 sec)

Oh no, this is the federal -- FAA, air traffic control --

Donald Trump

00:22:39 - 00:22:47 (8 sec)

So when you say we" -- "we" the government --""o when you say "we" -- "we" t"" when you say"

Gary Kelly

00:22:47 - 00:23:04 (17 sec)

You're paying for it. You're ultimately -- the airlines and our customers are paying for it.

Donald Trump

00:23:04 - 00:23:41 (37 sec)

Why do the airlines allow that to happen where they put in a bad system? Not even antiquated -- and it's antiquated because it's taken so long. Why do the airlines allow a system that you know is bad from the beginning -- because you guys are pros -- why do they allow the government to put in the wrong system?

Gary Kelly

00:23:41 - 00:24:35 (54 sec)

Well, we're not in control. And I think that's one of the things that we see as the path to having success, is we need to address the fundamental organization of the air traffic organization, not the safety and regulatory oversight -- that's a government function that needs to remain. But we believe that reforming the FAA by creating a non-for-profit corporation is the way to address the governments that you're speaking to, as well as the long-term financing.

Donald Trump

00:24:35 - 00:24:47 (12 sec)

Headed by the airlines? Headed by who? The board would be who?

Gary Kelly

00:24:47 - 00:25:05 (18 sec)

The board would be represented by all the various constituents. So the government would have a seat, general aviation would have a seat, certainly the commercial airlines would have a seat. Everyone would --

Donald Trump

00:25:05 - 00:25:32 (27 sec)

Well, this wouldn't have happened then. You wouldn't be putting in a system -- a control system -- that is obsolete before they even signed the contract. And, by the way, overly expensive. More expensive than a good system.

Gary Kelly

00:25:32 - 00:26:41 (69 sec)

You know, the interesting thing is I think that there is absolutely unanimous agreement that the system needs to be modernized and that it is well behind schedule. There is not agreement on the path forward to address that, and that's where we run into roadblocks. We want the government out of managing the air traffic control system so that it can be adequately managed, adequately financed, and we can get this done. We won World War II in three-and-a-half years; we ought to be able to modernize air traffic control.

Donald Trump

00:26:41 - 00:27:09 (28 sec)

So how long would it take to -- because I'm hearing you have to scrap all of the billions of dollars that have been put in -- stupidly put in. How long would it take to come up with a great air traffic control system, the top anywhere in the world, the top of the line? How long would that take to do and how much would it cost?

Gary Kelly

00:27:09 - 00:27:52 (43 sec)

The good news is, we don't have to scrap everything. We are still using fundamentally World War II-era ground-based radar to guide the aircraft from a navigation standpoint. We are not utilizing GPS satellite-delivered navigational tools. Those things exist. At least for Southwest Airlines, we have fully equipped all of our fleet to take advantage of that, but we're not getting those kinds of flight profiles written for each airport or each route.

Donald Trump

00:27:52 - 00:27:59 (7 sec)

So you'd save a lot of time, you'd save a tremendous amount of fuel.

Gary Kelly

00:27:59 - 00:28:29 (30 sec)

We think that we're losing $25 billion a year as an industry. And I think the best example we can offer up to you -- the system is very safe, by the way. And our air traffic controllers are very fine men and women, and they do a fantastic job.

Donald Trump

00:28:29 - 00:28:36 (7 sec)

It's safe but it's very cautious. And it should be cautious.

Gary Kelly

00:28:36 - 00:28:39 (3 sec)

Yes, it must be cautious.

Donald Trump

00:28:39 - 00:28:45 (6 sec)

But I notice the intervals when planes go out seem very, very long.

Gary Kelly

00:28:45 - 00:28:54 (9 sec)

It used to be a 55-minute trip between Washington and New York, and today it's 80.

Participant

00:28:54 - 00:29:30 (36 sec)

Mr. President, it's not just about fuel -- it's about jobs. The partnership in New York City did a study that the cost of air traffic control congestion in New York and New Jersey alone is $75 billion over a period ending in 2028. Those are jobs that haven't been created and jobs that --

Donald Trump

00:29:30 - 00:29:34 (4 sec)

And what is the reason for that?

Participant

00:29:34 - 00:30:20 (46 sec)

It's the antiquated system, one, Mr. President. It's, two, the fact that New York/New Jersey is the busiest airspace in the world. And, three, frankly, that other countries, including Canada, have more efficient systems. Implementation and the funding NextGen is really critical. And this is not an act of government -- this is about jobs.

Participant

00:30:20 - 00:30:27 (7 sec)

Sir, you asked why -- your question -- how did we let this happen to some degree.

Donald Trump

00:30:27 - 00:30:27 (0 sec)

Participant

00:30:27 - 00:31:16 (49 sec)

I've have background in telecom and railroads and some community industry, and it's unfortunate that every time you go from one industry to the other, the regulatory burden continues or gets worse. So in this particular case, to be very frank and blunt, and to your point earlier, I think it's become political -- it's a political process, and so it's difficult for us to have control.

Donald Trump

00:31:16 - 00:31:26 (10 sec)

Not anymore it's not political. We're going to get --

Participant

00:31:26 - 00:31:30 (4 sec)

And you have the appointees that you --

Donald Trump

00:31:30 - 00:31:31 (1 sec)

-- at a reasonable price. So not anymore. Go ahead.

Participant

00:31:31 - 00:31:56 (25 sec)

I would take special care in reappointing the [Inaudible] on the FAA. Whether or not it needs to be a pilot or not, I can't opine, but it would be nice to have people that actually have a thorough understanding of the business of aviation.

Donald Trump

00:31:56 - 00:32:05 (9 sec)

Is the head of the FAA a pilot? Does anybody know? Somebody should know.

Participant

00:32:05 - 00:32:07 (2 sec)

Donald Trump

00:32:07 - 00:32:32 (25 sec)

He's not? He's not a pilot. I just think a non-pilot would not know the sophistication of this system, right? I mean, better to have a pilot -- because my pilot said it's a terrible system that they're installing; that the work they're doing now is a waste of tremendous amounts of money because the system is a bad system. That's coming from a pilot.

Participant

00:32:32 - 00:32:49 (17 sec)

Mr. President, when you talk about jobs, and you just recently asked about that, what we talked about just recently with the airlines is infrastructure in the sky, which is really antiquated. But you refer to infrastructure on the ground, the airports.

Donald Trump

00:32:49 - 00:32:50 (1 sec)

Participant

00:32:50 - 00:33:11 (21 sec)

Yeah, and the airports really are becoming antiquated, to your point. There is a system, there is a charge called a passenger-facility charge, which is a charge that's levied on every ticket. And it hasn't been increased in 16 years, so it's basically defunded.

Donald Trump

00:33:11 - 00:33:12 (1 sec)

How much is it?

Participant

00:33:12 - 00:33:38 (26 sec)

It's $4.50. That could be increased by a simple act of Congress, and it's not a U.S. tax. It's a user fee. So as a customer uses my airport in Tampa, the airlines collect that fee and they send it back to us in Tampa. It never comes to Washington and gets approved in the budget.

Donald Trump

00:33:38 - 00:34:20 (42 sec)

The problem is, I don't like raising fees or taxes -- I'll be honest. I mean, we're spending all this money overseas, we're giving away trillions of dollars to all these countries. All of the countries that trade with us are ripping us off. The last thing we have to do is raise the fee. I understand what you're saying, but $4.50 -- it's a lot when you look at all of the passengers.

Donald Trump

00:34:20 - 00:34:58 (38 sec)

If there were other ways of doing this -- because you're only hurting yourself by -- really, eventually, people are going to just stop flying because it's very expensive with all the taxes. I mean, there are other ways. We're spending so much money overseas, fighting wars, doing things, and, frankly, making horrible trade deals. So don't worry about the money. I'll be able to get the money. The money -- we're going to change things around.