Scott, suppose we get extra runways somewhere in the TMA, that increase the overall landing/departure rate for the TMA to 300 per hour(purely arbitrary number).
At present, during the busy periods morning/evening etc. the sectors feeding traffic into the TMA are already operating at maximum rate of let's say 230 per hour. The runway capacity increase is completely useless unless there's a way for the planes to get to/from the tarmac! This was the point I was getting at....
With NERC now open, if and when there are ever enough people to staff it fully, the delays won't go away, they'll simply be moved as TC/other centres put on rates rather than NERC to prevent the them being swamped. This may be great if you are a manager at NERC, and can claim your big bonus because NERC attributable delays are down, but it wont actually result in moving much more traffic!
A long term strategic plan is needed somewhere soon. So we've had it then.