Mineta Targets Most Heavily Congested Routes
During a visit to the
FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center on Wednesday,
U. S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta announced a
series of new steps aimed at reducing potential gridlock and delays
during this year’s upcoming peak travel period, including the
creation of new air traffic “express lanes,” within
many of our nation’s most heavily congested routes.
“As the economy improves and passengers return to our
skies, the federal government is acting to reduce the kind of
gridlock we saw before 9/11,” said Secretary Mineta.
“These new tools for managing congestion in bad weather and
during peak travel periods demonstrate a new era of cooperation
between the federal government and all users of the system to
improve customer service and maintain a strong aviation
industry.”
The majority of aviation delays are caused by bad weather, the
Secretary said, and managing these delays is particularly
challenging during the spring and summer months. He said the
Department’s plan for managing delays includes a new,
innovative approach to air traffic operations that creates
“express lanes” within the nation’s airspace.
Unlike past summers, when weather-delayed planes at congested
airports waited to be scheduled into the normal air traffic flow,
this year the FAA and the airlines will adjust plane routes
throughout the airspace system and hold planes briefly on the
ground to free up vital air traffic lanes. These “express
lanes” will reduce overall delay times at congested airports
by getting planes off the ground and into the air traffic flow as
safely and efficiently as weather permits.
The concept of
“express lanes” resulted from a three-day conference
held earlier this month, called “Growth without
Gridlock.” Hosted by the FAA, the conference brought together
more than 60 participants from major and regional airlines,
business aviation, pilots, and industry associations to develop a
common strategy to reduce system delays.
“By bringing aviation’s intellectual capital
together in one room, we’ve come up with a new solution to
help ease delays” said Administrator Blakey. “The
partnership of the FAA and industry is at the center of improved
efficiency in the national airspace system.”
The Secretary said the Department’s plan also includes
combining, for the first time, Canadian and FAA weather radars to
provide more accurate and timely information that allows for faster
aircraft re-routing. And, an enhanced Collaborative Convective
Forecast Product (CCFP), developed jointly by the National Weather
Service and the airlines, will also improve aircraft re-routing and
planning in advance of bad weather