Airplane Ground Collisions, Delays Increase
April 30, 2001
The Department of Transportation issued its annual report on the state of air travel yesterday, finding that delays and dangerous runway incursions or "ground accidents" have risen sharply. Most of the blame was laid on the increasing popularity and accessibility of air travel. Over 4.7 million commercial flights operated in 2000's first three quarters alone, up over 100,000 flights from the previous year. Of these, over 25% experienced significant delays averaging 50 minutes and aggravating almost 120 million passengers. As anticipated, passenger complaints also skyrocketed, up over 15% from 1999.
The airline industry cites the government's inability to upgrade airport facilities and air traffic control systems as a major cause of delays and increasing safety concerns. Industry leaders have called for the Federal Aviation Administration to operate more like a private business rather than an inefficient government bureaucracy. One source of significant delays that may be difficult to overcome? Inclement weather. According to Michael Wascom, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association, an industry trade group, almost 70% of all delays are caused by bad weather. According to the Department of Transportation's annual report, "Addressing flight delays, cancellations and resulting consumer dissatisfaction will require a multifaceted approach, including new technology, airspace redesign and airport infrastructure enhancements. The window for sorting through options for the short term is extremely narrow."
More troubling than the delays is the increase in runway incursions. A runway incursion is any incident involving two airplanes already on the ground or an airplane and an airport service motor vehicle. Such runway incursions are expected to top 400 after year 2000 numbers are counted. That is almost 70 more incidents than were recorded in 1999. Again, crowded skies, and therefore runways, or lack of them, are to blame. "The FAA must follow through on initiatives started in 2000 at the national and local levels to reverse the upward trend of runway incursions," the report said.
-- Article Courtesy of InjuryBoard.com
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