"O'Hare flight reduction deal reached"

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

FAA: Flight-reduction deal reached for delay-prone O'Hare 
BY DON BABWIN
The Associated Press


Federal officials announced an agreement Wednesday to temporarily ease
congestion at O'Hare International Airport, a bottleneck that has
created a cascade of flight delays throughout the nation. 

The reduced flight traffic is expected to cut delays at O'Hare, the
busiest airport in terms of takeoffs and landings, by about 20 percent
and across the rest of the national air network by 5 percent. 

"O'Hare will no longer be the place where on-time schedules come to
die," said Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Marion C.
Blakey, who signed the agreement in Chicago along with Transportation
Secretary Norman Y. Mineta. 

The order, to take effect Nov. 1 and last through the end of April, cuts
37 daily peak-hour arrivals by United Airlines and American Airlines,
its two largest carriers. 

Mineta said it would provide "breathing space" for the airlines,
travelers and air traffic controllers but was only a temporary solution
to O'Hare's congestion problems. 

The agreement followed negotiations earlier this month in Washington
involving 16 airlines and the FAA, which has been trying to ease
persistent delays at O'Hare that officials say hamper the nation's
entire air system. 

Mineta had called that meeting the last opportunity for airlines to
voluntarily solve O'Hare's gridlock before the government stepped in to
impose strict flight caps. 

United and American, which together handle about 86 percent of flights
at the Chicago airport, had already agreed to flight reductions earlier
this year. They offered to support the new temporary cuts, but they
wanted other carriers to make schedule cuts as well. 

United said Wednesday that it would accommodate the reduction by
shifting most of its affected flights to off-peak hours, and an American
spokesman said he didn't expect the reductions to force a fare increase.


Under the new agreement, domestic airlines agreed to a goal of 88
arrivals during peak hours of 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Previously, federal
transportation officials had discussed a goal of 86 arrivals. 

United's peak arrivals would be reduced by 20, while American's would be
cut by 17. 

DOT spokesman Brian Turmail said Nov. 1 was the earliest the agreement
could take effect because the airlines worked together on it and
antitrust regulations for published schedules and other documents had to
be considered. 

Another part of the agreement affects four airlines that have eight
arrivals or fewer per day at O'Hare -- Alaska Airlines, America West,
Spirit Airlines and USA 3000. Each will be allowed to increase their
arrivals to eight per day but will not be allowed more than one
additional arrival between noon and 8 p.m. 

Carriers that violate the agreement would be subject to civil penalties
as high as $25,000 a day, Blakey said. 

In explaining why the agreement reduces United and American flights
while allowing other carriers to increase flights, FAA official Sharon
Pinkerton told congressional aides in a conference call earlier
Wednesday that federal officials were trying to make sure the "low-cost"
carriers had airport access. 

The long-term solution to the flight congestion problem will be to add
more capacity at O'Hare, Pinkerton said. 

She said the FAA is moving on an "extremely aggressive schedule" in
reviewing the city's proposed expansion plans for the airport. Mineta,
speaking at O'Hare, noted that the expansion would still take years to
complete and the airport congestion would have to be managed in the
meantime. 

United Airlines chief operating officer Pete McDonald said Wednesday
that the Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based airline would likely end up
dropping only about six flights overall because others would be shifted
to non-peak hours. 

American spokesman Bernie Desena said he didn't know how many flights
Fort Worth, Texas-based American would have to cancel. 

United and American had already announced in January a voluntary 5
percent reduction in daily flight schedules between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Still, O'Hare remained near or at the bottom nationally in on-time
performance, so in June, an extra 2 1/2 percent reduction took effect.
The total came to about 90 fewer flight peak-hour flights a day for the
two airlines. 

About two-thirds of arrivals at O'Hare have been on-time this year,
compared with 80 percent systemwide.


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