Airlines Alter Schedules to Reduce Delays

After a week of negotiations under heavy government pressure, six major airlines signed an agreement Friday to alter their scheduling at four of the nation’s busiest airports to reduce delays in arrivals, the Transportation Department announced.

“The American people have a right to truth in airline scheduling,” Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Hanford Dole said in a statement.

“I commend (the airlines) for their willingness to work with the department in concluding these agreements and improving their on-time performance, thus providing better service to their passengers.”

Calls It ‘Fait Accompli’

Although a spokesman for Eastern Airlines, one of the six companies, called the agreement a “fait accompli” that the carriers were virtually forced to sign, officials of both American Airlines and Delta said they had no problem cutting down their schedules at four airports--Hartsfield Atlanta, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas-Fort Worth and Boston Logan.

Under terms of the agreement, all flights must arrive within 30 minutes of the scheduled time at least 50% of the time by November and operate on time within 75% of the time by next April.

The department said the agreement allows for unforeseen bad weather, delayed connecting flights and equipment problems, but requires that schedules be adjusted for flights that are consistently late.

Alton Becker, speaking for American, said the airline had already shifted more than 1,000 flights at Dallas-Fort Worth and nearly 400 at O’Hare in order to reduce delays. Becker said American began making the changes last April after discussions within the industry about the problem of chronic delays.

James W. Callison, vice president and general counsel of Delta, speaking from the company’s Atlanta headquarters, said the agreement will require only relatively minor shifts to gain compliance.

“We actually haven’t had many complaints about delays,” Callison said. “I suspect it’s been less of a problem for us than some of the others.”

Asked if the schedule changes will cause loss of revenue, Callison replied:

“We wouldn’t have signed if that was the case.”

Dole has been the target of criticism because of delayed flights and concerns over air safety. Although some airline officials who declined to be identified said she had personally pressured them to sign, Callison said no Delta official had been contacted by Dole.

In addition to Eastern, American and Delta, United, Continental and USAir signed the agreement.

Industry sources said the Transportation Department had threatened fines of $1,000 for any flight more than 15 minutes late 70% of the time, and representatives of the the six companies were subjected to strong pressure to continue negotiations until the agreement was concluded Friday.

Becker, speaking for American, confirmed that the companies had been asked to sign a consent decree that could have subjected them to a fine and called the tactic “grossly unjustified.” Instead, he said, the companies signed an agreement that carries no automatic fine.

The Transportation Department previously has reported that airline delays had increased about 25% last year.