"Reducing flight delays might be easier said than done"

Saturday, September 16, 2000

Reducing flight delays might be easier said than done
By David Koenig
Associated Press


DALLAS -- Frank Vince says he took about 24 flights on commercial airliners
between February and June and not one reached its destination on time.

The explanation is simple, the technology-management consultant said while
waiting at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport for a flight to Austin,
Texas. "Look at the board," Vince said, glancing in the direction of
monitors listing departures and arrivals.

"There's too many flights. You don't ever expect to be on time anymore," he
said. "Today I'm on time, and that's refreshing."

Some consumer advocates and passengers like Vince are skeptical about the
airlines' willingness and ability to reduce flight delays, which rose to
epidemic levels this summer. While the airlines are an easy target, even
their critics say the Federal Aviation Administration shares blame for
delays by mismanaging and failing to update the air traffic control system.

Airline officials say on-time performance is bound to improve this fall, as
traffic volume declines after the peak summer vacation season.

Still, United Airlines, which posted the worst on-time performance rating of
the nation's top 10 carriers, started a round of fare sales Tuesday --
widely viewed as an effort to win back disgruntled travelers who suffered
delays or cancellations on its flights.

At the same time, American Airlines announced that it would spread flights
more evenly through the day at its two busiest hubs, Dallas and Chicago's
O'Hare International Airport.

American spokesman John Hotard said the changes should keep planes moving as
they wait in line to take off.

'Got to have a queue'

"You want to keep those flights going, and to do that efficiently, you've
got to have a queue," Hotard said. "But we're trying to shorten that conga
line."

About 30 percent of the big carriers' flights arrived late in July, down
from nearly 34 percent in June, according to government figures. At the
largest carrier, United Airlines, which is struggling with labor
difficulties, only 42 percent of flights were on time and 8 percent were
canceled.

"It's terrible," said Joanne Szabo of Corona del Mar, Calif., as she ran to
catch a flight from Dallas to Long Beach, Calif. She said she was stuck on
flights that sat on the runways for two hours and that one flight was
canceled, causing her to miss a connecting flight.

"Granted that a lot of it is probably attributable to weather, but I feel
airlines overbook all their flights because that's more profitable," Szabo
said.

Some observers blame the FAA for not helping airlines cope with the travel
boom in recent years.

"The FAA complains that the airlines are overscheduling. The airlines aren't
angels, but it's not as if they're flying empty planes," said David
Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association. "They're filled with
people who have to get to Los Angeles and Washington and Detroit."

Before the summer started, the FAA centralized its air traffic control
operations in Herndon, Va., and vowed to communicate better with airlines,
particularly on decisions to close airports because of storms. Despite those
steps, flight delays increased.

Many look to technology for help. Today jetliners fly from airport to
airport along narrow lanes in the sky, with controllers spacing them out
like cars on a highway. Vast stretches of airspace rarely are touched by
commercial jets.

'Free flight'

The airlines say a satellite-based global-positioning system, or GPS, could
allow planes to fly more efficient routes by going outside the lanes --
called "free flight." Computers would track planes and warn pilots if they
were approaching another plane.

However, more efficient use of the sky would do nothing to ease congestion
on the ground.

Federal officials and air traffic controllers blame the airlines for
routinely scheduling dozens of takeoffs and landings within minutes of each
other, making delays inevitable.

Some groups, including Ralph Nader's Aviation Consumer Action Project, are
pushing for a truth-in-scheduling regulation that would punish airlines for
frequent late arrivals.

"The airlines lie to you about when you're going to take off and land," said
Paul Hudson, the group's executive director. "Their defense is that if they
don't, they'll lose customers, because their competitors will lie. That's
inexcusable."

Hudson said airlines could ease congestion by scheduling more flights to
secondary airports, which tend to be underused. But officials from several
airlines say many of those airports are inconvenient and undesirable to
passengers.

Despite all the delays and negative publicity, many carriers recorded
occupancy ratings of about 80 percent this summer.

"They're not voting with their feet, because they're still flying," said
Hotard, the American spokesman. "But we're listening to the customer. The
airlines have got to provide a better product, or you're going to get a
passenger uprising -- or the airlines getting re-regulated by the
government."

Attached Photo: Jets line up during the morning "push" at the Dallas-Fort
Worth airport.

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