November 15, 2007
With Thanksgiving a week away, the federal government is trying to head-off an anticipated air travel nightmare. The Bush Administration has announced a number of steps it hopes will ease expected travel delays on the busiest travel weekend of the year.
The U.S. military is going to make more air space available for civilian airliners this holiday season by opening up a Thanksgiving express lane, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
In a joint agreement, the Defense Department and the Federal Aviation Administration have devised a plan to open up air lanes along the east coast, from Florida to Maine, from the day before Thanksgiving to the Sunday after. Normally, this air space is off-limits to civilian aircraft.
The FAA is also putting off non-essential maintenance projects between now and the end of the year so all FAA equipment and personnel can be deployed toward keeping flights on time, the White House said.
Airlines' on-time ratings have steadily declined this year as carriers have reduced the number of flights. Through the first half of 2007 domestic airlines recorded more than one million delays. To make matters worse, flight cancellations surged during the same period.
In July alone, more than 13,400 flights were cancelled and 2,100 diverted, while the on-time arrival rate was 69.8 per cent one of the worst monthly performances since the DOT started keeping such records 12 years ago.
Passengers filed 1,455 complaints with the U.S. Department of Transportation in July 2007, more than twice the number of July 2006 and the most in nearly seven years.
