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Summer Travel Gridlock Likely to Get Worse

Labor Day promises to hold some unpleasant surprises for travelers

By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com

August 29, 2007

They say there are not enough pilots or air traffic controllers, too many planes fighting for runway space, and outdated radar technology incapable of coping with overcrowded skies.

All of those reasons, plus a plethora of summer thunderstorms, delayed 200,000 flights at least 45 minutes between June 1 and Aug. 15, according to Flightstats.com. That’s one out of every seven – a 36 per cent hike over the same period last year.

Figures from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation agree: flight delays for the first half of this year were the worst since such data was first collected in 1995.

They will face packed terminals with long lines at ticket counters, security checkpoints, and baggage claims. Printing boarding passes at home 24 hours before of flight time and using electronic airport kiosks expedites the check-in process, airline officials say.

Security rules restricting liquids in carry-ons and mandating separate examination of electronic equipment (i.e. laptop computers and video cameras) remain in force.

Any hope that crowds and delays might decrease this fall have been tempered by the advent of new airlines, such as Virgin America, and more smaller regional jets by current carriers.

Too many planes and too few pilots could soon hit other airlines beyond Northwest, which nixed at least 10 per cent of its schedule over the last three months because pilots had used up their maximum allowable hours.

Fewer controllers make the picture even more gloomy: 700 resigned or quit over the past eight months and three times more are eligible for retirement by year’s end. Controllers compensate for short-staffing or inexperience by mandating more space between planes in the air.

The ancient radar system makes controllers' work more difficult. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is urging Congress to replace the 50-year-old analog radar with new global-positioning satellites that could handle triple the number of planes in the sky.

But that would cost billions – and fuel a confrontation involving airlines, airports, and small-plane operators.

According to Air Transport Association president James May, "Passengers can demand that Congress fairly fund the sorely-needed modernization of our nation’s airspace."

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