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Alliance of Residents Concerning O'Hare Inc. |
| A Not for Profit Organization | |
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AReCO in the News Source:
Date: 7/25/2004 Copyright Digital Chicago, Inc.
How to stop airport delays _______________________________________________ [Regarding the airport delays:] It is important to point out the major solution to immediately relieve airport delays is to reinstitute slot controls (the high-density rule) at the four critical airports: Chicago's O'Hare, New York's Kennedy and LaGuardia, and Washington's Reagan National. We believe that certain legislators, influenced by the air transportation industry, removed the high-density rule despite the dire delay and congestion warnings expressed in the 1995 Department of Transportation's report to Congress, in order to give the appearance that more runways and airport expansion was needed nationwide. The result: further entrenching aviation's monopoly over our U.S. transportation system, thus diminishing the need and especially the resources for better alternatives, such as a world-class, national high-speed rail system. Many major airports have many fewer flights than prior to 2000; major airlines have been consolidating their operations to the major hubs for a number of reasons. There is no reason transfer traffic could not be off-loaded to other, less used airports -- in the case of Chicago's O'Hare: Mid-America, Lambert, Rockford, Gary, etc. Airlines purposely overschedule flights, more than an airport is capable of handling; thus guaranteeing systemic delays, in order to monopolize the slots. One of the major congressional supporters of the high-density rule is Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.), who fought staunchly against its removal. Immediately re-establishing the rule would better distribute flight operations and at once, relieve delays. Jack Saporito, |
