Jul. 14--Summer thunderstorms may cause fewer flight delays this year with the launch of a new system announced Thursday by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The agency's Airspace Flow Program allows airlines to continue to fly into airports affected by bad weather as long as their flight path doesn't run through the storm.
Under the old system, the FAA would typically ground all flights to and from an affected airport even if their routes did not intersect the dangerous weather.
"It allows us to target specifically those flights that would have to fly through the bad weather and only delay those flights," FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said of the new software that is being tested first in the Northeast.
The agency will roll out the program to other regions over the next year.
There are as many as 40 severe weather incidents in the U.S. each year that delay, cancel or divert thousands of flights, according to the FAA.
Typically when a dangerous thunderstorm is hovering on the south side of Orlando International Airport, for example, all flights to the airport could be delayed. The new system, which the agency said could save airlines and travelers $900 million during the next 10 years, would allow flights from the north to continue to land while only flights from the south flying directly through the storm would be held up.
Meanwhile, the air-traffic controllers union sought this week to demystify what it says are the real reasons for flight delays.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association launched a Web site -- AvoidDelays.com -- aimed at helping consumers identify the best and worst times to fly based on historical patterns.
The site is the union's latest slap at the FAA in its ongoing push for the agency to hire more controllers and upgrade its equipment.
According to the site, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson, Philadelphia International and New York's John F. Kennedy International were the top three airports for delayed departures in July 2005, all tallying late starts for more than 35 percent of their flights. Orlando ranked 20th in that list with about 26 percent of its flights leaving late last July.
The site offers passengers the same real-time information on delays available from the FAA Web site (FAA.gov), as well as other government data that helps travelers gauge the best and worst times to land at certain airports.
"The system is strained, and we need to do something about it with long-term solutions," said Ruth Marlin, a Miami-based controller and vice president of the union. "But until we get those long-term solutions, we want to help people navigate the system as best we can."
Beth Kassab can be reached at [email protected] or 407-420-5448.
