International Travel

Flying, it seems, is becoming less a question of convenience and more a question of patience and good nerves. U.S. airline delays have apparently soared up to a 13-year high, according to a New York Times report. And things are expected to get worse. According to data provided by the Department of Transportation, U.S. Airlines’ on-time arrival rate for June was just above 68 percent, compared with June 2006’s 72.8 percent and May 2007’s 77.9 percent. As the agency reported further, nearly 25 percent of flights on the 20 largest carriers have not arrived on time so far in 2007. At the same time, there has been an increase in the mishandled baggage rate, while the number of filed consumer complaints about the airline service is higher than the number of complaints received in June 2007 and May 2006.

There are several reasons behind the worrying data. Firstly, the demand for air travel is rising, both on major airlines and smaller regional carriers.  Rather than flying bigger planes, airlines tend to rely on small 40- to 80-seats jets that fill up more easily, hence fly with fewer empty seats and are more profitable. This strategy, however, puts additional pressure on already crowded skies and runways. As a result, the number of delayed flights increases. Also, the increase can partially be attributed to bad weather conditions. According to government agencies, weather-related delays in June were up seven percent in a year.

Furthermore, the airline industry puts the blame on an outdated radar-based system. With a modern satellite-based air traffic control system, they claim, flight passengers could see some improvement in the present situation. In the meantime, however, the technological upgrade has been suspended due to a pending decision on the lawmakers’ part as to who should cover the related costs. Before it becomes clear whether it is the big airlines or the users of smaller aircraft who should be responsible for paying the money, the delays might get worse.

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