WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government will temporarily clear military air space for commercial use to help reduce airline congestion during holiday travel, President George W. Bush said on Thursday.
By John Crawley
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government will temporarily clear military air space for commercial use to help reduce airline congestion during holiday travel, President George W. Bush said on Thursday.
The modest change is among the measures the Bush administration is taking to try and ease flight delays, especially in the eastern United States where congestion ripples through the system and grounds planes elsewhere.
Delays have worsened this year due to exploding demand and more flights stressing an aging air traffic control system.
!ADVERTISEMENT!In many cases, runways, gate services and other airport facilities have been unable to efficiently handle passenger loads during busy periods.
"Airports are very crowded, travelers are being stranded and flights are being delayed, sometimes with a full load of passengers sitting on the runway for hours. These failures carry some real costs for the country," Bush said at the White House.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the Defense Department will open coastal air space from Florida to Maine over the busiest five days of Thanksgiving holiday travel, next Wednesday through Sunday.
The step gives air traffic controllers an automatic option for routing flights, most likely in case of bad weather. Usually, the Federal Aviation Administration must negotiate clearance with the military to use its air space on a case-by-case basis.
Thanksgiving is the busiest U.S. travel period of the year. Airlines expect to fly some 27 million people over a 12-day period beginning on Friday -- 4 percent more than last year.
MORE FLIGHTS, HIGHER FARES
Carriers are scheduling more flights at higher fares due to record fuel prices. But they also are freeing up seats and adding extra staff and planes to ensure they are not caught short if aircraft are delayed and passengers inconvenienced by weather, mechanical or other problems.
The administration also plans to tweak air traffic procedures to increase the number of flights that can land at New York-area airports and will impose a moratorium through the December holidays on nonessential maintenance projects so FAA equipment and personnel can focus on keeping flights on time.
Responding to criticism of airline service, Bush proposed doubling the amount of compensation passengers receive when involuntarily bumped off flights due to overbooking. He also wants to require that airlines create legally binding contingency plans for instances when flights face long ground delays.
These changes must go through the federal rule-making process and would not take effect for several months at least, if at all.
"Improvements are overdue," Rep. John Mica said at a House of Representatives hearing on aviation congestion.
Richard Anderson, chief executive of Delta Air Lines, told House lawmakers that airlines will do everything they can to ensure efficient travel -- especially over the crowded holiday period -- but are only partly responsible for the industry's chronic congestion problem.
"The most significant contributors to customer frustration and inconvenience -- systematic delays and congestion, especially in the New York area -- are very much outside our control," Anderson said.
Among other steps, he urged the Federal Aviation Administration, the Transportation Department and Congress to modernize the air traffic system to improve efficiency.
Bush urged Congress to approve legislation that would fund modernization changes but a decision on the bill is not expected until next year.
(Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by Brian Moss)
