The excitement travelers feel when purchasing cheap airplane tickets and cheap discount hotel rooms diminishes when they sit for hours at the airport wondering if their delayed flights will ever take off. The good news is that flight delays dropped six percent between 07 and 09.
Unfortunately last year 25 percent of U.S. flights still arrived late, usually an hour late, at five major airports: Newark Liberty International, LaGuardia and JFK, Atlanta Hartsfield, and San Francisco International.
Including Chicago OHare International and Philadelphia International airports, these seven airports were responsible for just under 80 percent of departure delays at all major U.S. airports.
Flight delays have become common during the last 20 years. They did drop for a couple of years after the 01 terrorist attacks which resulted in fewer planes flying. Air travel was approaching its pre 01 levels when the recession led to further flight reductions.
Flight delays are usually attributed to one or more of the following factors:
Poor weather
High volume of air traffic
Airline issues including baggage loading, crew or maintenance problems
Experts hope that the Federal Aviation Administrations modernization of air traffic control systems will help decrease delays over the next two to three years. It remains to be seen where this action will positively impact delays at the airports experiencing the vast majority of flight delays.
Given that the seven airports responsible for almost 80 percent of the delays are also among the nations busiest, it remains to be seen if the airlines can be convinced to take the necessary steps, including reducing the number of departures and arrivals at those airports, to significantly reduce delays.
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