Airline Delay Woes Continue Nationwide

As I wrote back in July, you can simply recycle old reports on the problems with air travel because nothing has changed in the intervening period of time.

You can go back to 1999 and 2000 and find horror stories about delays across the country and especially in the New York metro area airports. They'll attribute the problems to airlines that schedule more flights than airports can safely handle, weather, more travellers, airlines using smaller planes, outdated and obsolete air traffic control systems, and government inaction, depending on which constituency the media wants to push at any given time.

It should come as no surprise that air traffic delays continue piling up and Congress is considering imposing limits on flights into JFK airport.

Peters asked airlines to form a plan to improve scheduling at New York's JFK Airport.

Without an industry solution, the department is prepared to issue a scheduling-reduction order, she said.

The government also could force a so-called congestion-pricing model upon the industry, Peters said, but airline executives last week told Congress that raising flying costs during peak periods would simply result in higher fares.

The airlines and the FAA are pressing for a new, satellite-based air-traffic control system that will cost about $15 billion and take nearly 20 years to complete. Airline traffic is projected to double by 2025.

Customers are complaining more than ever because delays magnify the frustrations of sitting on a cramped plane for extended periods on the ground waiting to take off or circling an airport waiting for a slot to land. There is no excuse for poor customer service, even when facing delays. This is one area in which airlines can take proactive and creative steps to reduce customer issues without much effort or government intervention.