wigstheone
Aug 3, 01, 8:34 am
New York Times, 8/3/01
The Federal Aviation Administration will announce today that it is giving itself another year to figure out how to limit the number of planes flying to La Guardia Airport, and in the interim will continue using a lottery system it began last December, officials said.
The agency started the lottery after airlines added scores of new flights to La Guardia — one of the airports with the worst delays in the country — in the summer and fall of 2000, after Congress lifted decades' worth of restrictions on access to the airport.
The F.A.A. capped the number of additional takeoffs and landings, and allocated these slots by the lottery. The total number of scheduled arrivals and departures has been limited to 75 per hour, officials said.
Since the lottery, officials added, delays have decreased sharply. Delays at La Guardia used to account for 25 percent of the nation's total. The airport now accounts for about one out of 10 air traffic delays for the entire system, officials said.
Louise E. Maillett, the acting assistant administrator for policy at the aviation agency, said that at the time the lottery was held, the agency had hoped to develop a permanent policy by September, but that it was now giving itself until Oct. 26, 2002.
While officials said the decrease in delays was encouraging, they were continuing to search for other ways to minimize time spent waiting at La Guardia.
"We don't want it to last forever," Ms. Maillett said, referring to the lottery. "We are really seriously looking for a longer-term solution."
Since the lottery was put into effect, some airlines have voluntarily surrendered 19 slots for takeoffs and landings, which the agency plans to redistribute in a new lottery later this month in Washington.
Of the 19 slots, 10 are between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. American Eagle, a commuter affiliate of American Airlines, turned in six slots, and Continental Airlines turned in four slots.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/03/nyregion/03PLAN.html?searchpv=nytToday
The Federal Aviation Administration will announce today that it is giving itself another year to figure out how to limit the number of planes flying to La Guardia Airport, and in the interim will continue using a lottery system it began last December, officials said.
The agency started the lottery after airlines added scores of new flights to La Guardia — one of the airports with the worst delays in the country — in the summer and fall of 2000, after Congress lifted decades' worth of restrictions on access to the airport.
The F.A.A. capped the number of additional takeoffs and landings, and allocated these slots by the lottery. The total number of scheduled arrivals and departures has been limited to 75 per hour, officials said.
Since the lottery, officials added, delays have decreased sharply. Delays at La Guardia used to account for 25 percent of the nation's total. The airport now accounts for about one out of 10 air traffic delays for the entire system, officials said.
Louise E. Maillett, the acting assistant administrator for policy at the aviation agency, said that at the time the lottery was held, the agency had hoped to develop a permanent policy by September, but that it was now giving itself until Oct. 26, 2002.
While officials said the decrease in delays was encouraging, they were continuing to search for other ways to minimize time spent waiting at La Guardia.
"We don't want it to last forever," Ms. Maillett said, referring to the lottery. "We are really seriously looking for a longer-term solution."
Since the lottery was put into effect, some airlines have voluntarily surrendered 19 slots for takeoffs and landings, which the agency plans to redistribute in a new lottery later this month in Washington.
Of the 19 slots, 10 are between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. American Eagle, a commuter affiliate of American Airlines, turned in six slots, and Continental Airlines turned in four slots.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/03/nyregion/03PLAN.html?searchpv=nytToday