Aviation: Slow Flights to Nowhere

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At 6:05 p.m., an Eastern Airlines shuttle from Boston to New York rolled out onto the runway and waited for clearance. At 6:50, it received permission to take off. At 7:30, the plane was placed in a holding pattern over Hartford, Conn. At 7:45, it was switched into another pattern over Stamford, Conn., where it made lazy circles in unison with several other aircraft. At 8:40, the pilot announced that if delayed much longer, he might have to refuel in Hartford. At 9:05, the plane touched down at La Guardia and the passengers deplaned, over two hours late.

Such tie-ups have been the rule rather than the exception for the last two weeks at New York City airports. Flights from Europe have had to hold over the city for so long that they have been forced to go to Gander to refuel. Domestic flights from the West Coast to New York were placed in holding patterns as far away as Denver. One Northeast flight, originating from La Guardia, had to refuel after waiting on the ground for 2½ hours, resumed its place in line and waited two more hours before canceling. In a single day, Mohawk Airlines logged 84 hours of delay.

Federal Aviation Deputy Administrator David D. Thomas laid the blame on congestion. Said he: "What has happened is that the airports, particularly in the New York area, are finally approaching saturation." But pilots were telling their passengers the straight story: the FAA's air traffic controllers were staging a deliberate slowdown.

Ten-Hour Shifts. On July 3, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, which embraces half the U.S.'s. 14,500 controllers and hires Lawyer-Pilot F. Lee Bailey as general counsel, announced that it would start playing everything by the book—a set of rules that controllers often ignore. By spacing planes four miles apart instead of the usual three, the controllers managed to slow traffic by 30%. Because private planes use up only half a runway, controllers usually allow them to land simultaneously with a jet on intersecting runways, a practice forbidden by the FAA. The old rule went back into effect.

PATCO's aim was to highlight a shortage of controller manpower. Because of this dearth, controllers often have had to work ten-hour shifts and sixday weeks, which can be pretty grueling when one is juggling 20 planes per minute. Typical salaries start at $6,321 and stop at $15,828. Jets on radar screens show up so indistinctly that one controller literally died of fright. Says Michael Rock, chairman of PATCO: "It seems ridiculous that NASA can track a needle and we can't even make out two giant jets if they are closer than a mile and a half."

As annoying as PATCO's tactics were, they were effective. Last week the Senate Finance Committee decided to exempt the FAA from a civil service budget cutback and appropriated $15.75 million in additional funds. That will en able the FAA to staff towers with 2,750 more controllers.