Washington Wire - 2005-07-18

Airport Congestion Soars to Start Summer Season
Low-cost air carriers and regional jets choked U.S. airports in the first half of June, causing rampant delays as the summer travel season began, U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General Kenneth Mead said in a July 1 report. Delays averaged as much as 71 minutes and 23 airports reported at least one-quarter of flights had been affected, according to the report. Nine airports reported delays affecting 30 percent of their flights. "Following a relatively calm April and May, preliminary June data indicates that travel disruptions may once again be returning this summer, including at Chicago O'Hare, where the administration intervened in 2004 to curb growing delays," Mead said in his report. "It is too soon to tell whether this is a short-term condition resulting from anomalous weather or if it is a more pervasive problem." Atlanta, where 35 percent of flights were delayed, topped Mead's list of problem airports. New York LaGuardia had the longest average wait time of 71 minutes, while other New York-area major airports—John F. Kennedy International and Newark's Liberty International—also were among the top 10 problem airports. Low-cost carriers have flocked to these airports, adding flights even as they cut fares, Mead said. This combination has led to greater congestion as Americans flock to the skies. About 200 million people were expected to fly between Memorial Day and Labor Day, a 4.1 percent increase from summer 2004. Other cities facing the most delays include Chicago O'Hare; Miami; Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in Florida; Philadelphia; Louisville, Ky.; and Washington Dulles. Air traffic and delays at airports peaked in 2000, when 21 percent of flights were at least 15 minutes behind, Mead said. Since then, airfares on average have fallen between 6 percent and 14 percent; legacy carriers have seen a 20 percent price drop, he said.

TSA Adds Explosive Detection Devices to 10 Airports
The Transportation Security Administration has deemed successful a pilot project at 14 U.S. airports in which passengers were screened for traces of explosives, and will expand the program to 10 new airports this month. The program makes use of a portal where TSA screeners can direct passengers to enter. Passengers must stand still for a few seconds while puffs of air are released, enabling the portal to analyze the air for traces of explosives. "The explosives-detection trace portal technology is a proven and valuable asset in our layered approach to aviation security, improving our ability to identify explosives," said Kenneth Kasprisin, acting assistant secretary for homeland security for TSA. The portals already are in use in Baltimore; Boston; Gulfport, Miss.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Miami; New York JFK; Phoenix; Providence, R.I.; Rochester, N.Y.; San Francisco; San Diego; and Tampa, Fla. By the end of September, TSA expects to deploy 44 new machines to 10 more airports, including Charlotte, N.C.; Dallas Fort Worth; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Newark, N.J.; New York LaGuardia; Palm Beach, Fla.; Pittsburgh; San Juan, P.R.; and Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National and Dulles airports. TSA expects to deploy 100 new portals to large U.S. airports by January 2006.

Lack of Airplane Fuel-Tank Safety Rules Frustrates NTSB
airline regulators are dragging their feet in ordering airlines to take steps to reduce the risk of fuel-tank explosions like the one that caused a Trans World Airlines flight to crash in 1996, the National Transportation Safety Board said. Dan Campbell, NTSB's executive director, said the independent government agency that investigates transportation accidents is "frustrated" that the White House hasn't signed off on a Federal Aviation Administration rule to require nitrogen be pumped into fuel tanks to reduce flammability. "We would like to see the rule out," Campbell said at a briefing in Washington this month. "On the flammability side, we're no different than we were in 1996." FAA announced in February 2004 it would issue the rule, which would require about 3,800 airplanes to be fitted with the device within seven years at a cost of about $700 million. Accidents because of fuel-tank explosions have killed 346 people, the NTSB said. There have been three since 1990, including the TWA crash off the coast of Long Island, which killed 230. In 2001, a flight attendant died during an incident involving a Thai Airways International plane. In 1990, eight people were killed on a Philippine Airlines plane. All three incidents involved Boeing airplanes. Boeing voluntarily is equipping the new 787 with a nitrogen device and will begin installing the devices on new 747s next year, a spokeswoman said. Airbus said its fuel tanks are less vulnerable to explosions because they're not near heat sources.