After Tuesday’s little soiree at O’Hare, I was amused to read this article abou how the FAA wants airlines to cut back flights there. Really. And they’re being very good about asking nicely.
As airline traffic returns to levels not seen in years, the critical connection point at O’Hare has buckled under the surge, which leads to delays across the nation.
American and United airlines, O’Hare’s biggest operators, have twice agreed to cut summer flights there, but other airlines added flights to take their place, Blakey said. United and American compensated by adding flights immediately before and after peak periods.
Swell. The FAA is currently prevented from taking any concrete action on the matter due to airline deregulation. All it can do is ask pretty-please for voluntary cutbacks. Which means, of course, that if there’s any profit to be made in the short run, the airlines won’t mind passenger discomfort in the long run.
And re-regulation, at least to this extent, is unlikely unless pushed by Illinois congressfolk who have to put up with it. Assuming they do.
In May, O’Hare ranked last among major airports in the percentage of flights arriving on time, with just 60 percent of its flights staying on schedule. Bad weather caused some of those delays, but congestion exacerbates the problem, Blakey said.
By comparison, 78 percent of flights arriving at Washington’s Reagan National Airport were on time, and 76 percent of flights at Baltimore-Washington International met that goal, according to the latest figures from the Department of Transportation.
I.e., this air travel problem is not on Congress’s radar …