The Nation - News from June 20, 1988

The chief of the Federal Aviation Administration said the nation’s airports are nearing “aviation gridlock” and there may come a time soon when flying will be rationed to travelers. T. Allan McArtor, in a telephone interview with United Press International, said major cities already are having problems in handling the flow of commercial air travel because there are not enough airports and runways. “We already find that (bad) weather can bring us to the brink of gridlock,” McArtor said. “And unless we act, and act soon, we will face a commercial aviation gridlock.” McArtor predicted that in a few years the United States will see “planes in one city unable to leave because they cannot land in their destination city. Other planes won’t be able to fly into the first city because these planes are still on the ground. It’s a chain reaction.”