"O'Hare delays worst in U.S., and controllers say just wait"

Thursday, July 8, 2004

O'Hare delays worst in U.S., and controllers say just wait 
BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN
The Chicago (IL) Sun-Times


Despite recent efforts to ease congestion, O'Hare Airport continued its
reign as the country's big-city airport with the most delays, with a new
report finding just three out of every five flights are arriving and
departing on time.

The news wasn't surprising to air traffic controllers who reiterated
Wednesday that delays and controller errors will mount as their aging
work force faces retirement and the Federal Aviation Administration lags
in replacing them.

Staffing problems exist currently at two of the three major air traffic
control centers in the region, controllers said during a Wednesday news
conference. The third facility, O'Hare Tower, has adequate staffing now,
but within five years could face a wave of retirements, said union
official Craig Burzych.

"We've been through a roller coaster type of thing at O'Hare, where we
go through years with not enough controllers, to years where we hire a
whole lot of people," Burzych said. "We're on top of the roller coaster
right now and we're heading back downward."

The controllers' dismal outlook, which the FAA disputed, coincided with
a U.S. Department of Transportation report on air traffic delays in May,
the most recent month for which figures are available.

The percentage of flights arriving on time at O'Hare plummeted from
nearly 75 percent in April to under 60 percent in May. The percentage of
flights departing O'Hare on schedule dropped from 78.5 percent to 65
percent.

Those figures put O'Hare in the cellar among major U.S. airports --
which on average saw more delays, largely because of crummy weather.

In April, just three flights were chronically late. In May, that jumped
to 58 -- half arriving or departing O'Hare.

Midway Airport wasn't much better. It ranked second worst in departures,
which were 73.5 percent on time.

American Airlines, along with United Airlines, agreed to reduce O'Hare
operations by 5 percent during peak hours starting in March to reduce
soaring delays. Those airlines cut an additional 2.5 percent between 1
p.m. and 8 p.m. in June.

They blamed May's delays on high winds and rain. United spokesman Jeff
Green said other airlines have increased operations even as the big
carriers trimmed theirs. "The congestion is starting to creep back up,"
he said.


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