Bush Offering Plan to Help Ease Holiday Air Travel Delays

As if they didn't have enough on their plate at the moment, the lame-duck Bush administration is now putting together a plan to help ease air traffic delays during the upcoming holiday travel season. And although the number of passengers expected to be traveling will be down about ten percent from last year's numbers, most major air carriers will be removing about ten percent of their fleet during that time, so planes will still be full and the process of flying will still be harried.

One of the main components of the Bush administration's plan is to free up military no-fly space near busy commercial flight corridors. This plan was enacted during last year's holiday travel season as well. Instead of air-space being restricted in certain areas for military exercises, commercial planes are granted access, which theoretically should reduce flight times and make the travel routes more efficient. Another component is to ease maintenance routine requirements during the peak travel period, allowing airline flight staff instead to focus on the process of getting the planes off the ground on time.

The final - and most controversial - aspect of the Bush proposal involves implementing a bidding system for major airlines to bid on their flight departure and arrival times at the three major New York-area airports. It has been determined that two out of every three delayed flights around the country can be tied to a problem at one of the three New York airports. The airports and the airlines are scrambling to fight the bidding plan in federal court, if necessary.