FAA Unveils Capacity Measures at 31 Major Airports

Washington - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released
today capacity benchmarks for 31 of the nation's busiest airports.
This benchmarks study will help provide insight into the
relationship between airline demand and airport capacity to help
continue efforts to reduce congestion and delays and improve
safety.

A capacity benchmark is the number of takeoffs and landings per
hour that can be handled safely under given conditions.

"Relieving aviation congestion is one of President Bush's and
Secretary Mineta's top transportation priorities. These capacity
benchmarks provide important data that help us better understand
the current and future state of the nation's busiest airports," FAA
Administrator Jane F. Garvey said. "They will help greatly in the
collaboration among the FAA, airlines and airports as we continue
the development of both near- and long-term improvements."

The FAA benchmarks show two rates for each airport - the
optimum during good weather with visual separation and the
reduced during bad weather when controllers must use radar to
ensure safe separation between aircraft. The agency's capacity
benchmark study shows that overall the national aviation system
works well on days with good weather. On bad-weather days,
however, data show that several airports experience significant
flight delays from reduced capacity. Delays at these airports
usually ripple throughout the system.

The optimum benchmark capacity is based on the airport's ability
to land and depart aircraft and is independent of any other system
constraints, such as terminal airspace or enroute congestion.

Eight airports with three percent or more of their landings or
takeoffs delayed more than 15 minutes are:

New York LaGuardia (which often has delays even in good
weather)
Newark
New York Kennedy
Boston
Philadelphia
Atlanta
Chicago O'Hare
San Francisco

The benchmarks study shows that new technologies and
procedures will increase capacity an average of five percent by
2010. This increase is important, but not adequate by itself to
keep pace with demand. New runways, where feasible, increase
capacity by 30 - 60 percent.