Arpey Says Cuts Coming At DFW & ORD,
But Hopes To See Rise At Busy NYC Airport
Analysis by Aero-News Managing Editor Rob Finfrock
If you head starts
to ache after reading this, we don't blame you.
On the same day American Airlines unveiled a snazzy new terminal
at New York's JFK International Airport, geared towards bringing
even more flyers -- and, subsequently, more airplanes -- into the
already-packed airport, American CEO Gerard Arpey also announced
plans for the airline to reduce its flight schedule at two of its
busiest hubs, in an effort to curb delays.
Dow Jones Newswires reports Arpey (right) told reporters
Wednesday the airline's fall schedule will allow for extra
time-on-ground for flights at American's hub at Dallas-Fort Worth
International Airport, and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
By adding an extra five-to-seven minutes between flights, Arpey
said, the airline should be able "take the pressure off" a
jam-packed departure schedule, and cut down on the time airliners
spend waiting on the taxiway to depart from those airports.
The move follows one of the worst years ever for flight delays.
American, in particular, has been hit with a series
of cancellations, delays and diversions this year, many of
them due to poor weather at DFW -- snowstorms in
December, and severe thunderstorms in May and June.
Both scenarios resulted in planes stuck on the ground, or
diverted to other airports... and furious passengers.
So, Arpey's decision to cut back ever-so-slightly on
scheduled flights would appear to be a step in the right
direction... until you realize his comments came as American
unveiled its new $1.3 billion terminal at JFK, that the airline is
counting on to attract half-again as many passengers for
the carrier at the busy airport, now dominated by Delta Air
Lines and JetBlue.
Reuters reports the new terminal has 36 gates, 19 of which are
geared towards international arrivals. The airline currently flies
to 38 destinations from JFK, 23 of them international flights, with
92 operations a day.
In other words, American hopes to ease the kind of delays
that have smacked the airline industry -- and its beleaguered
passengers -- all year... while also increasing traffic to an
airport already overrun with airliners, in particular regional
jets.
Pass the Advil, the throbbing has started...
Dow Jones reports JFK is the third-busiest airport for
international boardings, based on numbers from the first five
months of the year. It was also third-worst among major airports
for on-time arrivals.
It isn't hard to see why. JFK suffers from an aging
infrastructure, and has precious little room left to expand... just
as airlines have ramped up efforts to add even more passengers and
flights. Weather also hasn't helped matters any.
Arpey didn't talk very much about those problems Wednesday. "We
have got lots of opportunity for growth" at JFK, he said. "I think
we are just getting started."
So, what's the magic bullet solution to these seemingly
contradictory goals? Given his position as the CEO of the world's
largest airline, Arpey's response probably won't surprise you --
the FAA's highly-touted "Next Generation" air traffic control
system, which will rely heavily on such systems as automatic
dependent surveillance-broadcasting (ADS-B) and other technologies
aimed at putting more planes into smaller spaces.
Arpey also took the
opportunity to parrot the Air Transport Association's oft-repeated
mantra, that an increase in business jets is largely to blame for
this summer's sharp increase in flight delay and cancellations.
"The pressure is worse because of all the corporate aircraft out
there," Arpey said.
That's flat wrong, according to organizations such as the
National Business Aviation Association and the Aircraft Owners and
Pilots Association. Granted, those groups may harbor a bias
against the airlines (and, conversely, ATA against general aviation
traffic)... but the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
also says the airlines -- and the FAA -- are incorrectly
pigeonholing smaller jets.
"Corporate aircraft are not the reason for system delays," said
Patrick Forrey, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers
Association.
"As long as the airlines operate a hub-and-spoke system, putting
fewer passengers on more aircraft, all trying to arrive and depart
at the same time, system delays are inevitable," added AOPA president Phil Boyer
recently. "More runways would help, but it takes at
least a decade to build a new runway in a major metropolitan area
-- if local politics will allow it."
To be fair, Arpey wouldn't mind a bit if the hoped-for
increase in American's JFK business came at the expense of other
carriers at the airport... and not necessarily from an increase in
overall traffic numbers. But Delta and JetBlue have also increased
flights at JFK in recent years, and are working on either brand-new
or refurbished terminals of their own to attract more passengers,
as well. The trend is clearly going up, and not down.
There is no room at JFK -- or other New York-area airports, for
that matter -- for more runways.