Air Travel and its problems

 

This page is an editorial on the airline industry and its problems, it is the author's opinion and is posted here for inspiring thoughtful conversation, and to help you understand why you have to properly plan your air travel and why you have to follow the rules.

AMTRAK Rail Systems

One way to cure these airline delays is to develop high-speed rail (HSR) between major cities and across the USA.  Japan, Europe, Korea, and now China have all added HSR and have cut airline congestion considerably, especially on the intercity routes that take less than 3 hours by HSR. 

Weather:

Flight delays caused by weather are not the fault of the airlines and are something the government cannot fix. Therefore, weather related delays should not be counted in the mix for punishing airlines for delays. The only way we see that weather delays can be prevented is by better communication systems between airports. Note that most HSR systems are not effected by weather conditions.

Possible Causes for Airline Delays:

The business community is greatly responsible for the delays. All want to leave at 8 AM or land at 6 PM and the airlines, some 25 or more have scheduled their flights to accommodate. Try getting 25 planes off the ground at 8 AM on ONE runway, it is physically impossible and this therefore, creates the delays of up to an hour or more. Add weather in various parts of the world to the formula and you have even more delays.

Airlines need to reevaluate their routes and their schedules if this is ever going to get cleared up; too many airlines took on too many routes in an effort to be the number one.

Computer Systems:

The computer systems of many of the merged airlines were or still are not compatible with each other, thus more confusion and more delays for individual customers.

On Ground Radar - Funding of:

On ground radar and delays - this is getting to be a problem in that there are or have been several 'near' misses in recent months. The problem goes back to under funding of the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and the cut backs in personnel from prior administrations that attempted to 'fix' the airline situation. What is needed is an influx of money for new equipment, better training, more personnel, and airport runway expansions.

Check in Delays:
Check in delays are generally caused by those that are not following the FAA or Homeland Security rules and are attempting to board with items that are not allowed. There are listings on the Internet and at websites, this one included, that display what is or is not permitted.

In 2010 in Atlanta Georgia and in New York and New Jersey there were incidents where a person skipped through security, and this caused thousands of people to have to exit the ramp areas and be rescreened, nation and worldwide delays of up to several hours resulted.

Check in Congestion:

This is due mainly to scheduling by the airlines of their people and by customers not getting to the airport on time.  The recommended time of arrival to the airport is 2 hours before the flight is scheduled to depart.

Lack of People Education:

Additionally, the lack of people having proper identification holds up lines, the carrying on of oversized luggage holds up lines, the wearing of shoes with metal tips, having medical pins without proper paperwork, etc. People need to be educated by the airlines and our government as to what is permitted.

 

Possible Cures:

The following are the author's opinions on possible ways to cure the airline delay problems.

CEOs:

One of our readers came up with an idea; charge the CEOs and big wigs of the airline companies $100.00 per hour for each of his or her customers (passengers) that experiences a delay past the first 30 minutes of attempting to take off or move to the gate after landing.  That should get these people thinking about efficiency.

Night flights:

All airlines should offer reduced fair very early morning or night flights.

Companies:

Companies have to reschedule their employees for off-hours flights.  A good night's rest before a meeting is also beneficial for the employee and the company.

High Speed Rail:

Cities that have under utilized airports in the outskirts, such as Stewart airport in Newburg, New York (This was to be the Hudson Valley's main airport, but due to poor transportation and high fairs, is not.)  The airlines and the government should provide high speed rail (HSR) to these locations and offer incentives for people to use each.

Mix of Private and Commercial:

Many airports have a mix of private and commercial airplanes using the same runways and facilities, this should probably be stopped as most private airplanes can us the smaller airports and shorter runways, thus freeing up the larger and longer.

GPS:

If all airplanes were required to have GPS (Ground or Global Positioning via Satellite) it would allow flights to fly closer than the current 5 mile limit.  The increased accuracy of the system would allow for planes to fly 2 or less miles from one another. This allows each to take off and land at closer and quicker intervals.

Lines:

Airport Security lines are a major problem for many and some airports and airlines have taken the initiative by proving special passes to those that have been cleared by Homeland Security.

Limiting Delays

November 15, 2007 the administration made an attempt to limit delays associated with air travel in the United States of America.  Some of the proposed solutions were to increase the 'bump' fee by $600 from $200 to $800, open up DOD air space, do away with airport construction during the Thanksgiving holiday, and create higher priced tickets for prime time flying.

These are all nice thoughts, but do not address the real problems with air travel delays as people, weather, lack of planning, poor scheduling, and lack of facilities.

There will be 27,000,000 people flying domestically during the 5 day 2007 Thanksgiving holiday.  The airlines expect to have 90% full flights.  The on time records are about 65% to 75% + or -, and this is not acceptable to most flyers.

Our Thoughts:

Increasing the 'bump' fee will only result in the airlines passing on the extra cost to all other flyers in the form of higher ticket prices.

Opening up DOD (Department of Defense) airspace may help keep planes apart in the air during bad weather situations, but the planes still have to take off and land and therein is the problem; not enough runways at the scheduled times.

Doing away with airport construction may help a little, but it is minor and will cost companies and employees much loss of time, materials, salaries, etc.

Creating higher ticket prices (Landing and takeoff fees) for those that make prime time landings and takeoffs will not work at most major airports since most all landing and takeoff time slots are already filled.

 

{Editor's note:  In October of 2007 the FAA made an attempt to re-route takeoffs from Philadelphia International over populated areas and the out roar was instantaneous.  The homeowner's under the proposed flight paths were outraged and the plan was dropped, for now.  The FAA also proposed dual takeoffs and landings at airports that have two parallel runways.}

{Editor's note:  We need to invest the required $8,000,000,000 ($8 Billion) to $50,000,000,000 ($50 Billion) {depends on who one listens to} into our airport and runway infrastructures and control satellites and systems. With the advent of more airlines from more countries and larger 1,000 passenger planes, our existing system will come to a complete halt and make today's delays look like the 'good old times'.}

New rules in 2010

There were several incidents where people had to wait for hours sitting on the runways waiting for take-off clearance; the new laws call for a maximum of three (3) hours, after which the aircraft must return to the gate and allow passengers to deplane.

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