"O'Hare carriers decline to cut flights"

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

O'Hare carriers decline to cut flights
Action may force U.S. to step in
By Jon Hilkevitch 
The Chicago (IL) Tribune

  
All except the two largest U.S. airlines have balked at requests to cut
flights--or even quit adding them--at O'Hare International Airport,
federal authorities said Tuesday.

The standoff during informal talks between the airlines and the Federal
Aviation Administration threatens to worsen the already poor on-time
flight performance at O'Hare, where traffic exceeds levels reached
before Sept. 11, 2001.

The O'Hare logjam increases the likelihood that U.S. Transportation
Secretary Norman Mineta would impose mandatory flight limits to ease
congestion and the domino effect that delays here are having at other
airports.

"None of us wants to repeat the horrible delays of the summer of 2000,
but at this time there is no indication of a willingness by the airlines
to offer any additional voluntary flight cuts," FAA spokesman Greg
Martin said.

He warned, "We do have some additional tools at our disposal" to deal
with the increase in O'Hare flights since June.

American Airlines and United Airlines, which account for 88 percent of
the flights at O'Hare, have pared their schedules by 7.5 percent during
peak travel hours. Those cuts, which were phased in starting in March,
produced marginal improvement. But other airlines have since brought new
service to O'Hare, undermining the effort to reduce delays.

"[FAA Administrator Marion] Blakey has called for the airlines to
exercise restraint with schedules at O'Hare. But because of competitive
factors, no one is willing to be the first," said a federal official
familiar with the discussions between the airlines and the FAA.

The agency has been unable to persuade the airlines to move some service
to less-congested airports or to reschedule some O'Hare flights to
off-peak hours.

Discount carrier Independence Air, which began service in June, offers
12 daily flights between O'Hare and Dulles International Airport near
Washington, including flights during the busiest afternoon and evening
rush periods when flights exceed the capacity of O'Hare runways and
gates.

Only 60 percent of the flights coming to O'Hare in May arrived on time
and 65 percent departed on time, the worst of any major airport in both
categories, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The June
data are not yet available but is expected to be even worse, in part
because of severe storms.

U.S. Rep. William Lipinski (D-Ill.) is pushing for a congressional
hearing on the effects of the added service at O'Hare.

The new service offered by Independence Air "is not only unfair to the
carriers who made the cuts but also undermines the DOT and FAA's work,
adds delays for this summer season and appears unnecessary," Lipinski
said in a letter to U.S. Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House
Aviation Subcommittee.

A Lipinski spokesman said Mica has tentatively agreed to hold a hearing,
probably in Chicago, this summer.


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