United States Department of Transportation
i
National Airspace System : long-term capacity planning needed despite recent reduction in flight delays
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2001-12-01
[PDF-381.75 KB]
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Abstract:The General Accounting Office (GAO) was asked to examine the aviation community's efforts to reduce flight delays. Specifically the GAO focused their work on the following questions: 1) What initiatives are planned or under way by the federal government, airlines, and airports to address flight delays? 2) What effect are these initiatives likely to have on reducing delays? 3) What other options are available to address delay problems? Briefly, results of the study indicate that the federal government, airlines, and airport have a diverse set of initiatives under way to address flight delays. Some examples include adding new runways, finding new ways to safely accommodate more aircraft in the skies, and doing more to coordinate efforts to adjust to spring and summer storms. The current initiatives, if successfully carried out, will add a substantial amount of capacity to the nation's air transport system. Even so, these efforts are unlikely to prevent delays from becoming worse unless reduced traffic levels following the September 11 terrorist attacks persist over the long term. The air transport system has long-term needs that require attention beyond the initiatives currently under way. Three other types of measures exist to help. 1) Adding new capacity by building entirely new airports or using other nearby airports that have available capacity. 2) Managing and distributing demand within the system's existing capacity. 3) Developing other modes of intercity travel, such as, but not limited to, high-speed rail where metropolitan areas are relatively close together.
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