Former FAA Command Center Air Traffic Management Specialist Rally Caparas
Equips Business Travelers With the Know-How on Avoiding Delays, Congested
Airports, and Missed Flights
SOUTHLAKE, Texas, March 18 /PRNewswire/ — Travelers experienced a 64 percent decline in airline on-time arrival this January compared to the same month in 2003, according to a report from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The report showed that on-time performance went from 83.4 percent in January last year, to 74.9 percent this January. And while carrier delays and late flights most affected on-time performance, weather conditions played a much larger role in delays than one might think upon an initial glance at the report’s numbers.
As business travelers start planning trips during the coming spring storm season, Travelocity Business(SM) correspondent and former FAA air traffic controller Rally Caparas offers vital tips on avoiding the time crunch with flight delays, airport congestion and missed flight connections.
According to Caparas, “If you look at the surface data, it appears that weather directly accounted for only 6 to 7 percent of flight delays, but before travelers get upset with their airlines or the FAA, it’s important to note that weather plays a role in about 80 percent of traveler delays. As we head into the spring storm season, travelers may want to consider how they can plan trips to avoid these potential delays.”
Caparas’ checklist for some of the best suggested ways to avoid potential flight delays are based on timing:
-- When traveling into or out of the East or Gulf Coasts of the United
States, especially between March 15th and October 15th, schedule
flights to depart out of, or arrive into these regions before
1:00 p.m. local time.
-- This helps avoid most of the severe thunderstorm activity, peak
periods of air traffic volume and associated lengthy delays.
-- When traveling out of or into the West Coast airports (from Seattle
through San Diego), schedule flights to depart from or arrive into
the region after 1:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.
-- The marine layer fog, which is an almost daily event, causes
reduced visibility at the airports and frequently results in
flight delays.
-- The fog usually dissipates by about 1:00 p.m. Pacific Standard
Time each day.
The occurrence of flight delays can be explained by how the FAA uses the National Airspace System to monitor and control flight traffic at 40 top airports, says Caparas. These facilities represent a fraction of all airports, but the vast majority of commercial flights either originates at, or goes through, these major “hubs”. Each airport has a pre-determined maximum arrival and departure rate during ideal conditions. When the weather becomes poor, or the runway configurations are forced to change based on wind direction, a runway closed for maintenance, or aircraft emergencies, the FAA must implement some sort of delay program to control the flow of air traffic, minimizing the impact of these events on a particular airport.
In addition to knowing the pitfalls for delays, Caparas emphasizes that business travelers with time constraints can make other smart choices to help make their travel as efficient and easy as possible. Some of these tips include:
-- Schedule flights into and out of alternative local or smaller
airports that are less congested with people and traffic such as
Burbank in Los Angeles, Midway Airport in Chicago, or Hartford
Airport instead of Boston Logan.
-- If "time is money", purchase a non-stop ticket. Every time you land
or depart during a trip, you significantly increase the odds of being
delayed.
-- If you do schedule flights other than non-stop, avoid scheduling very
tight connections as a slight delay on one leg could cost more lost
time and cause hassles associated with a missed connection.
Rally Caparas delivers updated flight delay information at www.TravelocityBusiness.com . As an air traffic management specialist and daily CNN correspondent out of Atlanta with his “Eye on The Sky” program, Caparas is the country’s leading source for analysis and news content regarding aviation-related incidents, airline events and travel advice. His experience includes 13 years as an FAA air traffic controller in numerous areas of the country, and he designed and managed the national air traffic delay programs for the FAA and the airlines, while serving as an Air Traffic Management Specialist at the FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center near Washington, D.C.
About Travelocity Business
Travelocity Business is a full-service corporate travel agency that helps companies easily manage travel and reduce costs, while providing more choices to travelers. Travelocity Business combines the savings and convenience of online with the full service of dedicated agents available 24/7 who typically answer the phone in 20 seconds, and within 60 seconds guaranteed. Companies can cut travel costs through flight deals, Web fares, hotel discounts and service fee savings — representing an average savings of more than $142 per trip, including airfare savings averaging 26 percent per ticket and service fee savings of up to 84 percent.
Travelocity Business merges the expertise, service and travel choices of Travelocity(R) with the most proven online corporate travel technology, already used by more than half of the Fortune 200. For more information, companies can visit www.TravelocityBusiness.com .
About Travelocity
Travelocity, a Sabre Holdings(TM) company, the pioneer in online travel, gives consumers access to hundreds of airlines, thousands of hotels, cruise, last-minute and vacations packages, entertainment tickets, best-in-class car rental companies, and ground transportation all backed by 24-hour customer service. With 41 million members, Travelocity is the sixth largest travel agency in the United States and has been recognized for its global leadership in online travel and powers five multi-lingual travel Web sites worldwide.
Sabre Holdings Corporation (NYSE: TSG) is a world leader in travel commerce, retailing travel products and providing distribution and technology solutions for the travel industry. More information about Sabre Holdings is available at http://www.sabre-holdings.com .
Contact:
Mary Kate Smither (marykate@vollmerpr.com )
Chintan Talati (chintan@vollmerpr.com )
972/488-4790
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SOURCE Travelocity Business
-0- 03/18/2004
/CONTACT: Mary Kate Smither, marykate@vollmerpr.com , or Chintan Talati,
chintan@vollmerpr.com , both of VOLLMER, +1-972-488-4790, for Travelocity
Business/
/Web site: http://www.TravelocityBusiness.com
http://www.travelocity.com
http://www.sabre-holdings.com /
(TSG)
CO: Travelocity Business; Travelocity; Sabre Holdings Corporation
ST: Texas, District of Columbia
IN: AIR LEI TRA
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