Delta Walks Out of Talks on Cutting Flight Delays

Delta Airlines, target of a federal investigation into deceptive scheduling, walked out of a government-supervised meeting today on ways to reduce flight delays at busy airports.

“We feel that participation in this meeting by Delta is inappropriate,” said a Delta spokesman who did not know whether the airline would return to later talks.

The airline would face no penalty for refusing to participate in the carrier talks, which are voluntary and under the supervision of the Federal Aviation Administration.

The walkout from the meeting occurred less than 24 hours after the government announced Delta and Eastern airlines may be practicing unfair and even deceptive scheduling that result in frequent flight delays (Story in Part IV, Page 1).

The Transportation Department issued an order asking for public comment on whether the two major carriers should face enforcement action for practices at Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport--one of the nation’s busiest. If convicted, the airlines would be penalized $1,000 for each day they committed a violation.

Delta and Eastern denied the allegation.

“We are very disappointed that Delta has chosen to pull out of the scheduling talks,” FAA spokesman Steve Hayes said.

“Airline scheduling practices are clearly an important contributing factor to delays in this country,” he said. “We are doing our part to resolve the problem and it is important that each airline do its part.”

The talks in nearby Arlington, Va., focused on how to rearrange flight schedules at Chicago’s O’Hare, Atlanta’s Hartsfield and Dallas-Fort Worth airports.