The Federal Aviation Administration (
The Federal Aviation Administration (
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.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
