LOS ANGELES : Clinton Haircut Caused No Big Delays, Records Show
President Clinton’s haircut on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport caused no significant delays of regularly scheduled passenger flights, according to federal records obtained by New York Newsday.
The newspaper reported that Federal Aviation Administration records show that an unscheduled air taxi flight had the only delay attributed to the closure of two runways for an hour before the departure of the President’s plane May 18. The delay was 17 minutes.
The President had apologized for any inconvenience caused by the visit by Beverly Hills stylist Cristophe, amid reports that planes were kept circling. “If you understand the air traffic system, you’d find that statement (that planes were circling) ridiculous,” FAA spokesman Fred O’Donnell told Newsday.
But an air traffic controller said the runways closings did create extra work. “If you close two runways, you take away 50% of the capacity and increase the complexity by 100%,” said union official Karl Grundmann.
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