"U.S. airport delays worsen"

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Airport delays worsen
Atlanta third from bottom for late arrivals, takeoffs
By KIRSTEN TAGAMI
The Atlanta (GA) Journal-Constitution


Atlanta had some of the worst delays among large airports last year as
traffic grew beyond pre-9/11 levels.

>From January through November, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport was
third from the bottom among 31 large U.S. airports for both on-time arrivals
and departures, according to government figures. In fact, the airport's
performance was the worst in several years, those figures show.
 
The delays come as no surprise to Atlanta technology consultant Matt Mason,
who flies out of Hartsfield-Jackson nearly every Monday morning and returns
on Thursday or Friday. He logged 135,000 miles on Delta Air Lines last year.

Mason noticed that delays, especially flying home, grew longer and more
frequent last year. A flight is considered delayed if it is 15 minutes or
more late.

"I don't remember it being a constant 30-minute ground delay before," he
said. Mason now checks for delays on the Federal Aviation Administration's
Web site, www.faa.gov, before he flies.

"There's no doubt we're impacted by delays," said Hartsfield-Jackson
spokeswoman Felicia Browder. That's why the airport moved ahead with its
$5.4 billion expansion even when travel dipped after the terrorist attacks
of Sept. 11, 2001, she said.

When the new fifth runway is competed in 2006, the airport estimates that
airlines will save $5 million a week because of reduced delays, Browder
said.

Delays vary by time of day, with late afternoon and evening often having the
most late flights, according to the latest report from the U.S. Bureau of
Transportation Statistics. For example, in November, passengers flying into
Atlanta had only a 50-50 chance of arriving on time between 4 and 5 p.m.
That was the single worst hourly performance of any large U.S. airport.

Overall, more than one-fourth of flights coming into Atlanta were late.

Delta, which is adding about 100 flights to Hartsfield-Jackson's lineup at
the end of this month, expects that its changes will improve the airport's
overall performance. The airline is moving from a "banking" system, in which
groups of planes arrive and depart at the same time, to a continuous plan at
Hartsfield-Jackson. Delta spokesman Kip Smith said that because flights will
be leaving and arriving throughout the day, the new schedule should reduce
congestion.

The Federal Aviation Administration is "excited" about the plan, Smith said.

Atlanta handled about 83 million passengers last year, more than any other
U.S. airport, and expects 88 million this year. The previous record, set in
2000, was 80 million.

The second-busiest U.S. airport, Chicago's O'Hare, had the most delays of
all large airports. Second-worst for arrivals was Newark, N.J., and for
departures, Philadelphia.

Charlotte had the best record for on-time arrivals last year, while Houston
Bush was No. 1 for on-time departures.

The U.S. Department of Transportation posts a monthly report on delays and
other aspects of air travel at airconsumer.ost.dot.gov.

The report also pinpoints some of the most delay-plagued flights. For
November, the worst offender was Atlantic Southeast's Flight 4710 from
Flint, Mich., to Atlanta, which was late nearly 97 percent of the time. Its
delays averaged more than an hour.

Congestion was the leading cause of delays at all U.S. airports.

ON-TIME SCORECARD
Hartsfield-Jackson International's on-time rates in recent years (in
percentages):
Year / Departures / Arrival
2004 / 76.7 73.1
2003 / 81.8 / 79.4
2002 / 83.8 78.4
2001 / 77.6 / 77.3
2000 / 78.5 / 76.6
1999 / 78.2 / 73.9
1998 / 82.0 / 76.9
1997 / 77.8 / 70.8
- Source: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics Note: Figures are for
January-November of each year.

WHO'S GETTING IT RIGHT

Airports with best on-time rates, January-November 2004:
Departures 
1. Houston Bush 
2. Salt Lake City 
3. Washington Dulles 
4. San Francisco 
5. Denver 

Arrivals
1. Charlotte
2. Denver
3. Salt Lake City
4. Los Angeles
5. Detroit

BE READY TO WAIT

Airports with worst on-time rates, January-November 2004:
DEPARTURES / ARRIVALS 
1. Chicago O'Hare / 1. Chicago O'Hare 
2. Philadelphia / 2. Newark, N.J. 
3. Atlanta / 3. Atlanta 
4. Chicago Midway / 4. New York LaGuardia 
5. Las Vegas / 5. Philadelphia 


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