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Expect To Be Late: 26% Of U.S. Flights Delayed In 2007

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By DAN CATERINICCHIA, The Associated Press

Published: February 6, 2008

WASHINGTON - Domestic airline delays in 2007 were the second worst on record, the Transportation Department said Tuesday.

Flights in the United States were late more than 26 percent of the time last year, a slightly better performance than in 2000, when airlines were tardy 27.4 percent of the time. The federal government began collecting airlines on-time data in 1995.

The industry's poor performance reflects rising passenger demand coupled with congestion in the skies and on tarmacs as the Federal Aviation Administration grapples with a growing number of air traffic controllers nearing retirement age. In 2006, domestic flights were late about 24.5 percent of the time.

President Bush has demanded action to avoid another summer of record delays, but there is little consensus among airlines, airport operators, Congress and the administration on what should be done.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters earlier this month said congested airports can charge landing fees based on the time flights land and traffic volume to encourage carriers to spread operations more evenly throughout the day.

But the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty, said the new policy was a minor fix for a major problem. In 2007, those three airports had the lowest on-time arrival rates, and aviation officials say delays there cascade throughout the system and cause three-quarters of all flight delays.

The Air Transport Association, which represents the nation's largest airlines, also said a more comprehensive fix is needed.

The trade group and the Port Authority prefer flight-path changes and improvements aimed at increasing the flight capacity at airports.

The airlines and the FAA are pressing for a new, $15 billion satellite-based air traffic control system, dubbed NextGen, that will take nearly 20 years to complete to improve operations. Last August, the FAA awarded ITT Corp. a contract worth up to $1.8 billion to build the first portion the system.

The nation's 20 largest carriers reported an on-time arrival rate of 64.3 percent in December, down from 70.8 percent in the same month in 2006.

Customer complaints rose nearly 40 percent to 849 in December compared with the year-ago period, according to the government data. The rate of mishandled baggage rose slightly to nine reports per 1,000 passengers from more than 8.9 reports a year ago.

American Eagle Airlines had the worst December with more than 46 percent of its flights delayed by at least 15 minutes. Aloha Airlines had the best on-time arrival rate in December at 93 percent.

TIA RANKINGS

Tampa International Airport ranked fourth nationwide in on-time departures in 2007 with 81.2 percent of flights departing within 15 minutes of schedule, the Department of Transportation's benchmark for on-time performance. The airport ranked third nationwide in December on-time departure performance.

It ranked 11th nationwide in on-time arrivals performance, in 2007 with 76.7 percent of flights arriving within 15 minutes of schedule and ranked ninth in December. Tampa's arrivals performance depends more on conditions at the departure airport and in-flight than local operations.

Ted Jackovics

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