Airline Delays Match Record Pace of 2000

U.S. flight delays this year are on pace to match last year’s record congestion, with one in five scheduled flights by major airlines delayed in the first three months of this year, lawmakers were told Thursday.

“Delays, cancellations and flight operations are closely tracking those of last year,” Transportation Department Inspector General Kenneth Mead told a House appropriations subcommittee hearing.

According to government data, the top 10 airlines scheduled about 1.4 million flights for the first three months of this year, which was comparable to 2000. Arrival delays for the first quarter totaled more than 295,000, with an estimated 45,000 flights canceled in the same period.

But Mead and others said the picture is not totally bleak.

Most delays are caused by bad weather, and unusually severe thunderstorms wreaked havoc with the aviation system last year. Better weather this summer could decrease the delays.

Nevertheless, Mead said the airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration could still take aggressive steps separately and cooperatively to smooth operations.

“Actions most likely to reduce delays this summer are voluntary ones taken by some airlines to revamp their schedules at their hub airports and efforts to disperse traffic away from congested hubs where economically feasible,” Mead said.

Mead credited efforts by AMR Corp.’s American Airlines to reduce peak operations at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and a similar initiative by Delta Air Lines at Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport.

The FAA, Mead said, has made progress on initiatives to identify and track delays and cancellations, and provide a blueprint for future system capacity.

A wild card in the delay outlook is the prospect of strikes by unions.

Delta pilots and mechanics at Northwest Airlines have reached tentative deals, but the rank and file at those unions have yet to ratify those proposals.

Flight attendants at American and UAL Corp.’s United Airlines have threatened to strike. The American talks are in mediation, but the United dispute is not.

FAA Administrator Jane Garvey said her agency has taken major steps to address the delay problem. These include more creative management of existing air space in the congested triangle between Chicago, Boston and Washington, additional agreements for use of Canadian and U.S. military air space, and better communication between the air traffic system and the airlines.