Ticket lines were long yesterday at the Northwest Airlines counters at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport after a major computer malfunction caused traffic problems with all departing flights.
Flights bog down
as travel picks upRebounding tourism and summer
storms add to airport delays
WASHINGTON » This summer is shaping up as the worst for flight delays since 2000, when nearly one in every four planes was late.
The gloomy picture is due to the large number of people traveling -- passenger loads have returned to pre-Sept. 11, 2001, levels -- and a weather pattern producing severe storms in some of the nation's most congested airspace.
In Honolulu, tourism officials said they have not heard about delays on the mainland affecting airports here, but they agreed that summer travel to the islands is booming.
15 minutes of infamy
Here are the number of commercial airline passengers and the percentage of delayed flights starting in 1999. A flight is considered delayed if it takes off or arrives more than 15 minutes later than scheduled. The 2004 passenger figure is through March; the flight delay percentages are through May.
Year Passengers Percent arrival Percent departure 1999 636 million 20.85 16.96 2000 666 million 23.86 19.91 2001 621 million 18.51 15.98 2002 613 million 16.47 13.61 2003 647 million 16.30 12.86 2004 144 million 19.25 16.81 SOURCE: BUREAU OF TRANSPORTATION STATISTICS
For the week ending last Friday, Japanese arrival numbers were up 30 percent from the same time a year ago, and domestic arrivals were up 7 percent, according to Hawaii Tourism Authority officials.
"We'll probably set a record this summer as far as visitor arrivals. We just don't have the June figures yet," said Frank Haas, HTA director of tourism and marketing. "The travel market this summer is pretty robust."
Haas said delays at airports can also be blamed on tightened security regarding carry-on bags and check-in luggage.
Yesterday, storms delayed flights to New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport by more than three hours. Other airports along the East Coast -- in Baltimore, Washington, Boston, New York and Philadelphia -- experienced delays of up to an hour.
During the summer of 2000, severe thunderstorms coupled with large passenger loads and work slowdowns led to massive delays. While few experts expect this year's problems to be as pronounced, most agree there will be significantly more delays than during the previous three summers.
"Airplanes are going to be very full. Airports are going to be crowded. There are going to be long lines at security," said David Swierenga, an airline economist and president of Vienna, Va.-based AeroEcon.
Passengers know it already.
"The planes are really jammed and service seems to be suffering," said Ken Cahill, a traveler from Asheville, N.C., passing through Reagan Washington National Airport.
Swierenga believes 2004 will top the record 666 million airline passengers in 2000. A rebounding economy and the lowest fares in a decade have lured people back to the skies.
Bad weather is the single biggest cause of delays. Unusual weather patterns have caused a high number of severe thunderstorms in some of the country's most congested areas -- from Chicago east through the upper Midwest, the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Bad weather at a major airport has a cascading effect, causing delays throughout the aviation system.
Exacerbating the problem is the larger number of planes in the air. As airlines have sought to meet the increasing demand for direct flights, they have replaced larger planes with smaller, more efficient jets. The result is that it takes more planes to carry the same number of people, creating a further burden for the air traffic system.
The FAA has taken steps to minimize delays. New computer programs let pilots fly more direct routes and enable controllers to track the paths of thunderstorms so planes can be rerouted rather than delay takeoffs until a storm has passed.
Air Travelers Association President David Stempler advises calling the airline before leaving for the airport. "Check on your specific flight, because even though the airport itself may be on delay, it may not affect your particular flight," he said.
The Associated Press and Star-Bulletin reporter Rod Antone contributed to this report.
To see which airports are experiencing delays:
www.fly.faa.gov
Air Travelers Association
www.airtravelersassociation
