An Angry Delta Pulls Out of Schedule Talks

Agreement was reached Friday on hundreds of flight changes at Chicago and Dallas-Forth Worth to reduce the likelihood of airline delays, but hopes for additional schedule moves in Atlanta fell apart after Delta Air Lines angrily pulled out of the talks.

Delta, the largest air carrier at Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport, ordered its representatives to walk out of the government-directed scheduling discussions in protest against the Transportation Department’s accusations that it is engaging in deceptive scheduling practices.

The department on Thursday threatened both Delta and Eastern Airlines with possible fines because it said the two carriers were engaged in deceptive scheduling that misleads travelers into thinking a flight will leave or arrive on time when delays are often inevitable.

“In light of the DOT’s action and considering the nature of its allegations, Delta feels it has no choice but to withdraw from further participation in this (scheduling) exercise. . . . Our people are on the way home,” said Delta spokesman Dick Jones.

Federal Aviation Administration officials, nevertheless, characterized the airline meetings, which covered four days last month and a final day Friday, as a success. They said significant progress had been made to reduce the threat of flight delays this summer.

Exactly how many flights were juggled at the Atlanta, Chicago O’Hare and Dallas-Fort Worth airports was unclear as the session closed Friday, however.

The FAA estimated that about 1,000 flights were changed significantly, usually from one 15-minute segment to another, at the three airports, which are among the nation’s busiest.

American Airlines, however, issued a statement saying it alone was shifting 1,010 flights at Dallas-Fort Worth and Chicago, and United put its changes at more than 600 flights, about twice the number given by the FAA.

A spokesman for the FAA suggested that the discrepancies may occur because the airlines are counting flights differently or are counting flights whose times are shifted only slightly.

Efforts to get the airlines to shuffle flights at Atlanta were only partially successful, however.

According to the FAA, 231 flights were changed there, with Delta accounting for fewer than 40 before the carrier pulled out of the talks.

Eastern, which also denied the DOT’s charges, agreed to shift about 125 flights at Atlanta, according to FAA officials.