US to use "express lanes" in sky to cut air delays

[nwa757]

WASHINGTON, March 24 - Air traffic managers now have authority to hold flights at secondary airports in certain circumstances to clear up congestion at bigger ones in a novel bid to shorten air travel delays, officials said on Wednesday.

The option worked out with airlines will give takeoff priority to flights delayed at least 90 minutes at major airports. They will then be routed through high-altitude "express lanes" to hasten their trip. The plan is meant to spread out waits and minimize the impact of delays nationally.

There are 35,000 commercial passenger and cargo flights in the United States each day.

Previously, delayed flights at congested airports waited to be scheduled into the normal flow of traffic.

Reducing delays, even by minutes, saves airlines money on fuel. Late flights can mean higher costs for aircraft crews and maintenance, and inefficient use of aircraft.

The new approach to briefly hold flights is directly aimed at operations of the biggest carriers, which dominate virtually all major airports and continue to struggle financially.

But Bill Wangerien, vice president of operations planning at Delta Air Lines, said the plan was a breakthrough of industry and government cooperation that will benefit the entire industry.

Even though less passengers are flying than were before the 2001 hijack attacks, airlines are running nearly as many flights on smaller aircraft as they were 2-1/2 years ago on bigger aircraft.

This type of traffic has been steadily growing and the big airlines continue to fly most of their flights around the busiest cities, like Chicago and New York.

Also, smaller airports like Chicago Midway have experienced sharp growth from low-cost carriers that have gaining strength and sharing air space with the biggest airlines.

These trends have pushed the FAA to avoid a repeat of 2000 when record summer travel and congestion combined to create unprecedented delays. The agency has restructured air traffic strategies since, even though the proposed 2005 budget would cut $400 million from traffic modernization programs.

Most air traffic delays are caused by bad weather, and summer is traditionally the worst time of the year for thunderstorms that can cause problems with air travel if they occur at busy times along heavily traveled routes.

The Transportation Department held off on forcing airlines to limit their schedules at peak times, but said that would be an option if the FAA strategy to reduce delays does not work or if scheduling becomes a bigger problem.

Original story written by Reuters News Service, re-written by nwa757