FAA Trying To Cut Down On Chicago Flight Delays

"Unacceptable."

That's how Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta described the snarled air traffic situation at Chicago's O'Hare Airport as he called for a meeting between the FAA and the airlines.

"O'Hare's on-time performance is unacceptable and has a substantial ripple effect on our nation's aviation system," Mineta said in a statement issued earlier this week. "It is critical that all O'Hare carriers set schedules that better match the airport's current capacity and keep passengers moving."

The FAA says it's rather slack-jawed at the scope of delays in Chicago. Two months ago, O'Hare was host to a whopping 14,500 flight delays. In fact, for the first six months of this year, the number of delays has reached 58,600. That's more than the total annual number of delays between 2000 and 2002.

So what's going to happen at this meeting? Mineta says the FAA will ask that the airlines each submit a plan to cut flights to O'Hare. After the meeting, the FAA will mandate traffic reductions, an order that could be in effect for six months at a time.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.ohare.com