"FAA Tries to Reduce Airline Delays"

Friday, May 24, 2002

FAA Tries to Reduce Airline Delays


HERNDON, Va. (AP) -- The Federal Aviation Administration marked the
beginning of the summer travel season with new steps to reduce airline
delays. 

>From new air routes to more frequent weather updates, FAA Administrator
Jane Garvey came to the nation's air traffic control center here Friday
to outline the agency's latest efforts to make the planes fly on time. 

``If the weather cooperates, travelers should arrive at their
destinations on time,'' Garvey said, speaking on the day before the
Memorial Day weekend, the traditional kickoff of the summer travel
season. 

Garvey said there were no specific terrorist threats against U.S.
airlines. She reminded passengers that they needed to get to airports
earlier than in the past because of new airline security measures
imposed following the terrorist attacks. 

``The heightened security measures mean it will take a little longer to
get through the airport,'' Garvey said. 

Once the planes are aloft, they can take advantage of new routes through
Canadian air space, through areas formerly reserved for the military,
and over the Atlantic Ocean for north-south East Coast flights, such as
Boston to Miami. 

The extra paths will allow airplanes to fly around thunderstorms, rather
than have to be held on the ground at airports. 

``Some weather is just plain unsafe,'' Garvey said. ``But we can manage
severe weather operations better.'' 

There are also new routes to help reduce congestion in the New
York-Washington-Chicago triangle. 

In addition, the FAA plans to provide airlines and controllers with
updated weather reports every two hours rather than every four hours,
allowing them to react quicker to storms, Garvey said. 

And new technology allows FAA officials to more accurately project the
paths and intensity of thunderstorms, meaning controllers can more
quickly allow planes to take off and land rather than delay them to wait
to see where the storm is headed, said Jack Kies, an FAA program
director. 

While there are still fewer passengers flying this year as compared with
the same period in 2001, the number of flights is close to pre-Sept. 11
levels, Garvey said. At such major airports as Chicago O'Hare,
Dallas-Fort Worth and Atlanta, the number of flights at certain times is
even greater than last year, she said. 

Indeed, Kies said he expected more passengers to fly this summer than
last year. In March, the FAA's annual forecast projected that air travel
wouldn't return to pre-Sept. 11 levels until 2003. 

The AAA, meanwhile, expects 4.1 million airline passengers over the
Memorial Day weekend, down 7 percent from the 4.4 million who flew in
2001. And the Air Transport Association reported that 43.7 million
passengers flew the major U.S. airlines last month, down 13 percent from
50.3 million in April 2001.


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