701EV
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Airport delays worsen
Atlanta third from bottom for late arrivals, takeoffs
By KIRSTEN TAGAMI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/18/05
Atlanta had some of the worst delays among large airports last year as traffic grew beyond pre-9/11 levels.
From January through November, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport was third from the bottom among 31 large U.S. airports for both on-time arrivals and departures, according to government figures. In fact, the airport's performance was the worst in several years, those figures show.
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ON-TIME SCORECARD
Hartsfield-Jackson International's on-time rates in recent years (in percentages):
Year / Departures / Arrival
2004 / 76.7 73.1
2003 / 81.8 / 79.4
2002 / 83.8 78.4
2001 / 77.6 / 77.3
2000 / 78.5 / 76.6
1999 / 78.2 / 73.9
1998 / 82.0 / 76.9
1997 / 77.8 / 70.8
— Source: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics Note: Figures are for January-November of each year.
WHO'S GETTING IT RIGHT
Airports with best on-time rates, January-November 2004:
Departures
1. Houston Bush
2. Salt Lake City
3. Washington Dulles
4. San Francisco
5. Denver
Arrivals
1. Charlotte
2. Denver
3. Salt Lake City
4. Los Angeles
5. Detroit BE READY TO WAIT Airports with worst on-time rates, January-November 2004:
DEPARTURES / ARRIVALS 1. Chicago O'Hare / 1. Chicago O'Hare 2. Philadelphia / 2. Newark, N.J. 3. Atlanta 3. / Atlanta 4. Chicago Midway / 4. New York LaGuardia 5. Las Vegas / 5. Philadelphia
The delays come as no surprise to Atlanta technology consultant Matt Mason, who flies out of Hartsfield-Jackson nearly every Monday morning and returns on Thursday or Friday. He logged 135,000 miles on Delta Air Lines last year.
Mason noticed that delays, especially flying home, grew longer and more frequent last year. A flight is considered delayed if it is 15 minutes or more late.
"I don't remember it being a constant 30-minute ground delay before," he said. Mason now checks for delays on the Federal Aviation Administration's Web site, www.faa.gov, before he flies.
"There's no doubt we're impacted by delays," said Hartsfield-Jackson spokeswoman Felicia Browder. That's why the airport moved ahead with its $5.4 billion expansion even when travel dipped after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, she said.
When the new fifth runway is competed in 2006, the airport estimates that airlines will save $5 million a week because of reduced delays, Browder said.
Delays vary by time of day, with late afternoon and evening often having the most late flights, according to the latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. For example, in November, passengers flying into Atlanta had only a 50-50 chance of arriving on time between 4 and 5 p.m. That was the single worst hourly performance of any large U.S. airport.
Overall, more than one-fourth of flights coming into Atlanta were late.
Delta, which is adding about 100 flights to Hartsfield-Jackson's lineup at the end of this month, expects that its changes will improve the airport's overall performance. The airline is moving from a "banking" system, in which groups of planes arrive and depart at the same time, to a continuous plan at Hartsfield-Jackson. Delta spokesman Kip Smith said that because flights will be leaving and arriving throughout the day, the new schedule should reduce congestion.
The Federal Aviation Administration is "excited" about the plan, Smith said.
Atlanta handled about 83 million passengerslast year, more than any other U.S. airport, and expects 88 million this year. The previous record, set in 2000, was 80 million.
The second-busiest U.S. airport, Chicago's O'Hare, had the most delays of all large airports. Second-worst for arrivals was Newark, N.J., and for departures, Philadelphia.
Charlotte had the best record for on-time arrivals last year, while Houston Bush was No. 1 for on-time departures.
The U.S. Department of Transportation posts a monthly report on delays and other aspects of air travel at airconsumer.ost.dot.gov.
The report also pinpoints some of the most delay-plagued flights. For November, the worst offender was Atlantic Southeast's Flight 4710 from Flint, Mich., to Atlanta, which was late nearly 97 percent of the time. Its delays averaged more than an hour.
Congestion was the leading cause of delays at all U.S. airports
You got to love it! Randy has one bad day and he's gone. Skippy and the circus crew have a flight late 97% of the time and everybody keeps their jobs.
Only at ASA (Atlanta's Slowest Airline)
701EV
Atlanta third from bottom for late arrivals, takeoffs
By KIRSTEN TAGAMI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/18/05
Atlanta had some of the worst delays among large airports last year as traffic grew beyond pre-9/11 levels.
From January through November, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport was third from the bottom among 31 large U.S. airports for both on-time arrivals and departures, according to government figures. In fact, the airport's performance was the worst in several years, those figures show.
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Hartsfield-Jackson International's on-time rates in recent years (in percentages):
Year / Departures / Arrival
2004 / 76.7 73.1
2003 / 81.8 / 79.4
2002 / 83.8 78.4
2001 / 77.6 / 77.3
2000 / 78.5 / 76.6
1999 / 78.2 / 73.9
1998 / 82.0 / 76.9
1997 / 77.8 / 70.8
— Source: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics Note: Figures are for January-November of each year.
WHO'S GETTING IT RIGHT
Airports with best on-time rates, January-November 2004:
Departures
1. Houston Bush
2. Salt Lake City
3. Washington Dulles
4. San Francisco
5. Denver
Arrivals
1. Charlotte
2. Denver
3. Salt Lake City
4. Los Angeles
5. Detroit BE READY TO WAIT Airports with worst on-time rates, January-November 2004:
DEPARTURES / ARRIVALS 1. Chicago O'Hare / 1. Chicago O'Hare 2. Philadelphia / 2. Newark, N.J. 3. Atlanta 3. / Atlanta 4. Chicago Midway / 4. New York LaGuardia 5. Las Vegas / 5. Philadelphia
The delays come as no surprise to Atlanta technology consultant Matt Mason, who flies out of Hartsfield-Jackson nearly every Monday morning and returns on Thursday or Friday. He logged 135,000 miles on Delta Air Lines last year.
Mason noticed that delays, especially flying home, grew longer and more frequent last year. A flight is considered delayed if it is 15 minutes or more late.
"I don't remember it being a constant 30-minute ground delay before," he said. Mason now checks for delays on the Federal Aviation Administration's Web site, www.faa.gov, before he flies.
"There's no doubt we're impacted by delays," said Hartsfield-Jackson spokeswoman Felicia Browder. That's why the airport moved ahead with its $5.4 billion expansion even when travel dipped after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, she said.
When the new fifth runway is competed in 2006, the airport estimates that airlines will save $5 million a week because of reduced delays, Browder said.
Delays vary by time of day, with late afternoon and evening often having the most late flights, according to the latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. For example, in November, passengers flying into Atlanta had only a 50-50 chance of arriving on time between 4 and 5 p.m. That was the single worst hourly performance of any large U.S. airport.
Overall, more than one-fourth of flights coming into Atlanta were late.
Delta, which is adding about 100 flights to Hartsfield-Jackson's lineup at the end of this month, expects that its changes will improve the airport's overall performance. The airline is moving from a "banking" system, in which groups of planes arrive and depart at the same time, to a continuous plan at Hartsfield-Jackson. Delta spokesman Kip Smith said that because flights will be leaving and arriving throughout the day, the new schedule should reduce congestion.
The Federal Aviation Administration is "excited" about the plan, Smith said.
Atlanta handled about 83 million passengerslast year, more than any other U.S. airport, and expects 88 million this year. The previous record, set in 2000, was 80 million.
The second-busiest U.S. airport, Chicago's O'Hare, had the most delays of all large airports. Second-worst for arrivals was Newark, N.J., and for departures, Philadelphia.
Charlotte had the best record for on-time arrivals last year, while Houston Bush was No. 1 for on-time departures.
The U.S. Department of Transportation posts a monthly report on delays and other aspects of air travel at airconsumer.ost.dot.gov.
The report also pinpoints some of the most delay-plagued flights. For November, the worst offender was Atlantic Southeast's Flight 4710 from Flint, Mich., to Atlanta, which was late nearly 97 percent of the time. Its delays averaged more than an hour.
Congestion was the leading cause of delays at all U.S. airports
You got to love it! Randy has one bad day and he's gone. Skippy and the circus crew have a flight late 97% of the time and everybody keeps their jobs.
Only at ASA (Atlanta's Slowest Airline)
701EV