O'Hare International Airport Ranks Last for Arrivals, Departures

Posted on Thu, Jan. 08, 2004   
 
O'Hare International Airport Ranks Last for Arrivals, Departures
Associated Press

CHICAGO - Travelers are more likely to run into delays when flying into or out 
of O'Hare International Airport than when passing through any other major 
airport in the country, according to newly released federal data.

As many as seven out of every 10 flights are arriving late at O'Hare during 
peak hours, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation report released 
Wednesday.

The report, which is based on airport performance figures through November, 
showed that O'Hare led the country in delays in 2003. O'Hare placed 30th in a 
ranking of the country's 31 busiest airports both in terms of on-time arrivals 
and on-time departures.

In response, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has asked federal transportation 
officials to suspend antitrust provisions that ban the airlines from discussing 
flight scheduling with one another.

In a letter sent Wednesday to U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, 
Durbin warned that overscheduling problems at O'Hare could cause major 
disruptions to the entire commercial aviation system.

United Airlines and American Airlines control more than 80 percent of the 
approximately 2,850 daily flights at O'Hare, according to the Chicago 
Department of Aviation.

United would participate in scheduling talks, but would prefer that other 
methods to reduce delays be explored, said Peter McDonald, the company's 
executive vice president of operations.

The company's February schedule will "aggressively take flights out of periods 
that have a higher number of flights at O'Hare and move them to less busy 
periods throughout the day," McDonald said.

American spokeswoman Mary Frances-Fagan said the Fort Worth, Texas-based 
carrier is "working hard to mitigate the impact of congestion at O'Hare, but we 
are also responding to the public demand for air service in the aftermath of 
9/11."

City aviation officials in Chicago say the problems caused by the congestion 
are overshadowed by the benefits of having a busy airport.

"It's a good problem to have from our point of view," said Aviation 
Commissioner Thomas Walker. "The delay rankings show that other airports are 
doing less business, so of course their on-time departures and arrivals are 
better."
 

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