Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Contact: Greg Martin
202-267-3883
DOT 3-04

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mineta Announces
Congestion Relief for Chicago’s O’Hare International

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta today announced the signing of an order that will significantly reduce flight congestion and passenger inconvenience at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

Under terms of the order signed by Federal Aviation Administrator Marion Blakey and accepted by both airlines, American and United have agreed to reduce by 5 percent those carriers’ operations during the peak hours between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. This reduction of 62 scheduled flights, which takes effect in early March and lasts for six months, returns scheduled O’Hare operations to October 2003 levels, the last month prior to significant delays.

“Today’s announcement is a significant, first step toward getting planes into and out of Chicago on time,” said Secretary Mineta. “While this Department continues working toward a comprehensive, long-term solution to this challenge, this order provides American travelers with necessary and immediate action to alleviate potential travel delays.”

Secretary Mineta said that the Department would closely monitor and evaluate the effect this schedule reduction has in relieving O’Hare delays. “If flight delays return to unacceptable levels, we will use our authority to consider what additional steps may be necessary to reduce congestion at O’Hare,” Secretary Mineta said.

"The public must have confidence that their flights will take off and land on time," said FAA Administrator Blakey. "The current level of flight delays at O’Hare is unacceptable. We had no choice but to call upon the airlines for relief in the interest of the flying public."

“This announcement is important because we want to keep people moving,” said Secretary Mineta. “And we want the economy to grow. Delays cost time and money. In fact, the economy loses billions of dollars to delays each year. That is unacceptable.”

While the current congestion at Chicago O’Hare requires immediate action, the Department of Transportation and the FAA are implementing a broad, comprehensive approach to increase the capacity and efficiency of the nation’s airspace system. Subject to Congressional appropriations, the FAA will be delivering Airport Improvement Project funding authorized in Vision 100, including $3.4 billion this fiscal year, to support increased airport capacity.

Secretary Mineta is also leading a joint, long-term planning effort with other government agencies such as NASA, the Departments of Defense, Commerce, and Homeland Security to map out a future vision for shared use of the national airspace system.

In addition, the FAA will be convening a national meeting in March, entitled “Growth without Gridlock,” to address further improvements to increase national airspace system capacity. The meeting will focus on new advanced enroute procedures and airspace redesign in major metropolitan areas.

In the greater Chicago area, the FAA continues its review of the proposed modernization plan for O’Hare, under development by the City of Chicago, as well as proposals to build a new South Suburban Airport.

Briefing Room