Highly-Publicized Measure Becoming Commonplace Over Holiday Periods

In what has become a US holiday tradition, once again the US military will make airspace available for commercial airline flights off the East Coast during the July 4th weekend, to help reduce travel delays for air travelers.

The airspace released by the military over the upcoming weekend will allow airlines to plan alternate routes in one of the country’s most heavily flown aviation corridors, said US Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters. The DOD will release airspace off the east coast from Maine to Florida above 24,000 feet, and will continue to control airspace below 23,000 feet for training operations.

"Today’s announcement will help ensure that travelers don’t have to celebrate Independence Day by being stuck on an airplane," said Peters.

The Department of Defense (DOD) is releasing airspace off the eastern seaboard from 0600 EDT on Thursday, July 3, to 0600 Monday, July 7. This is similar to what was done over Memorial Day, Christmas and Thanksgiving.

The military continually works with the Federal Aviation Administration to release the airspace anytime it is not being used for military missions, the Secretary added.

FMI: www.dot.gov