I used to be head flack for the Federal Aviation Administration, but this pathetic snow job from former jet jockey Bush slipped right past me (and past The New York Times):

We can do better. We can have an aviation system that is improved. And that’s what we’re talking about. Secretary Peters and Acting Administrator Sturgell have been working with the airline industry on practical improvements. I want to announce a series of preliminary actions to help address the epidemic of aviation delays:

First, the military will make available some of its airspace over the East Coast for use by civilian airliners this Thanksgiving. These new routes will help relieve air congestion from Maine to Florida for nearly five full days surrounding the holiday.

Second, the FAA is taking new measures to head off delays. Bobby Sturgell will impose a holiday moratorium on all non-essential projects, so that the FAA can focus its personnel and equipment exclusively on keeping flights on time. The FAA is also partnering with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to reduce bottlenecks in the New York metro area, which is the source of most chronic delays, etc., etc., etc.

Fortunately it didn’t slip right past Jim Fallows of The Atlantic, a pilot with long experience of east coast air traffic. Here is, as Paul Harvey used to say and for all I know still does, the rest of the story.