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Airline Woes Blamed On A Broken System

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McClatchy-Tribune

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 7, 2008

WASHINGTON - WASHINGTON - Rising jet fuel prices are being cited by airlines as the reason for canceling service to smaller U.S. cities, but an increasingly broken air travel system is as much to blame, according to a new book by a former high-level Federal Aviation Administration official.

"When it comes to air travel today, everyone has a horror story," writes George Donohue, in the understated opening line of his new book, "Terminal Chaos."

An associate administrator for research and acquisition at the FAA from 1994 to 1998, Donohue offers a detailed explanation of both the causes of and solutions to an aviation system in crisis. Today's mess of delays, cancellations and airport chaos are the product of more than two decades of bad decisions, he said.

In an interview, Donohue argued that rising fuel prices are providing political cover for legacy airlines such as American, United and Delta to retool and go after their smaller, more profitable competitors such as Southwest Airlines. Part of this retooling is halting less profitable service to smaller airports. .

Airlines are reducing their unionized work forces, cramming passengers onto smaller planes and reducing seats. And although there will be fewer airports served, there will also be more traffic on the larger, already congested airfields.

Many of Donohue's views are shared by Mary Schiavo, who was the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general from 1990 to 1996.

"The system is very, very broken. And unfortunately the problem with the broken system starts at the top," Schiavo said.

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