Press Release from Congressman Steve Rothman (D-NJ):

June 3, 2003

Rothman Hails Indigo Airlines’ Apparent Decision To Stop Service From Teterboro Airport; Says Fight Goes On To Permanently Ban All Future Scheduled Service Operations

Washington, DC – After months of intensive lobbying of top federal officials such as U. S. Secretary of Transportation Norm Mineta and Transportation Security Administration Administrator, Admiral James Loy, to have them stop Indigo Airlines' scheduled service at Teterboro Airport, Congressman Steve Rothman (D-NJ9) today announced that Indigo has apparently stopped its scheduled service operations at Teterboro. Rothman pointed to a published report in today’s Aviation Daily which indicated Indigo has suspended its Teterboro operations. So far there has been no direct confirmation from Indigo officials about their intentions. Rothman hailed Indigo’s apparent decision to stop its service out of Teterboro saying that it was, in large measure a reaction to the intense pressure he has helped build against the airline, but vowed to tighten restrictions to prevent Indigo or any other airline from starting scheduled service at Teterboro again.

“Stopping Indigo’s scheduled service operation at Teterboro and preventing other copycat air traffic to Teterboro from other parts of the country is critical to improving homeland security in Northern New Jersey and to ensuring that the character of Teterboro Airport does not change,” Rothman said. “We must make it crystal clear to Indigo or any other airline that may seek to establish scheduled service that such operations will never be allowed at Teterboro. That is why I continue to pursue all alternatives – legislative and regulatory – to make it impossible for Indigo or any other airline to conduct scheduled service flights out of Teterboro.”

Rothman has been calling on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to uphold the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s (PA) longtime ban on scheduled service, while also calling on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to stop Indigo’s service because of security concerns. Indigo had offered tickets to random customers over the phone and Internet, and because it operated under the guise of a “charter” airline, its passengers were not subject to the rigorous security checks mandated by Congress at all major airports in the United States.

Rothman has argued that Indigo would change the nature of Teterboro Airport from a small general aviation airport to a commercial airport similar to Newark but without the important security checks. In the latest step that placed significant pressure on Indigo to cease its service, Rothman persuaded Secretary Mineta to write a letter to Administrator Loy expressing his own concerns over Indigo’s operations and that of copycats at Teterboro. Rothman has had numerous personal discussions with Admiral Loy about getting the federal government to stop Indigo’s operations at Teterboro. Additionally, Rothman pressed his case with Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security Asa Hutchinson, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, and other top Homeland Security and Department of Transportation officials. Rothman also enlisted Congressman Jim Oberstar (D-MN8), who has served in Congress for more than 28 years and is recognized as perhaps the nation’s most important policymaker when it comes to the nation’s aviation laws, to join his call to shut down Indigo’s scheduled service operations.

Indigo initiated scheduled service with its fleet of planes between Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and Chicago Midway Airport in Illinois on March 3, 2003.