Gateway Travel Management

April 24, 2002 - DOT Study to Resume on Over Crowded Airports

Although fewer people and planes are in the air, the Department of Transportation (DOT) is still looking at whether airline passengers should pay more to fly to the most popular airports at the most popular times. The department said it would continue to ask the airline industry and its passengers for comments until July 22. The effort began last August, but was suspended following the events of September 11th.

The steps the department is asking about include:

Charging airlines more to land during peak travel times.

Auctioning takeoff and landing slots at crowded airports.

Raising prices at overcrowded airports to encourage airlines to divert service to nearby, less-used facilities.

Limiting flights at some airports by administrative action.

Major United States airlines carried 46.5 million passengers in March, down 10.2 percent from the 51.8 million in the same month in 2001, according to the Air Transport Association, an airline trade group. That was the smallest percentage decline for any month since September. Since the airlines seem to be increasing their load factors, the DOT will continue to analyze the benefits of diverting traffic to alternate airports in order to ease congestion and improve on time performance.If the DOT determines that the increase should apply, the cost for convenience will most likely be passed on to the corporate traveler.

GTM has always offered alternative airports as one of many ways to lower your travel costs. We will continue to monitor this developing study and keep you informed as information becomes available.