CNN

Surging airport delays frustrate fliers

From Carl Rochelle CNN Correspondent

July 14, 2000 Web posted at: 12:16 p.m. EDT (1616 GMT)

HERNDON, Virginia (CNN) -- As the aviation industry keeps growing, so does the number of delays at airports in the United States -- not to mention the number of exasperated travelers.

"I'm at least on an airline three times a week, and the one thing I think that drives me crazy is that you get to the airport and then you find out that you're delayed," one traveler said.

U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis can relate.

"With the major airline that I fly, I have not, to the best of my knowledge, had an on-time arrival in three months," the Colorado Republican said.

In June, airport delays were up 16 percent over last year, despite an ambitious plan by the Federal Aviation Administration to reduce delays.

"I don't think there is any doubt: If we had not made these changes, June would have been much worse than it was," the FAA's Monte Belger said.

The FAA, which blames the delays on extremely bad weather last month, is trying to work around problems by holding conference calls every two hours -- from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. -- at the Air Traffic Command Center in Herndon. There, the FAA and airlines share weather data in hopes of avoiding potential bottlenecks.

At peak periods, the command center tracks as many as 8,000 planes, including flights within the United States and arrivals from overseas. In good weather, traffic flows smoothly and flights are usually on time. But a few thunderstorms over key areas can cause big disruptions.

The Air Transport Association, which represents the major airlines, said the delays are about more than rough weather.

"The problem is that you've got this antiquated air traffic control system and you have a thunderstorm that causes delays, and it really puts the whole system in chaos, and that's what causes these tremendous amounts of delays," ATA spokesman David Fuscus said.

The FAA says it's working to improve the air traffic system, but it also says part of the problem is tremendous growth in aviation, which is swamping airports with so much traffic that some delays are inevitable.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), July 17, 2000

Answers

I'd say that delays of from two to eight hours--a full day--are quite serious, indeed. And, all over the country, all blamed on the weather. My, oh, my! Do they think we were all born yesterday?

-- Uncle Fred (dogboy45@bigfoot.com), July 18, 2000.

Delays are inevitable, because of the big 4% jump in traffic. What a crock. There have been other years recently where the year-to-year increase was bigger, without the slowdown.

You can only ask, what's going on? What is really going on?

-- Wellesley (wellesley@freeport.net), July 18, 2000.

I fly frequently. A year ago this time the commercial airlines were all just about right on the button as far as being on time. The past few months it has been getting progressively worse, to a point you cannot even set a sensible business schedule for yourself anymore.

Something's got to give. Or, at least a logical reason found.

-- Billiver (billiver@aol.com), July 18, 2000.