Travelers: Expect delays and nice weather

The nation's top aviation official warned holiday travelers to prepare for long waits this Labor Day weekend as the summer with the worst delays ever comes to a close. The good news: Weather over most of the USA is forecast to be clear.

"With traffic up, the number of people flying up, I think everyone had better get to the airport early and be a little braced up," Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chief Marion Blakey said Thursday. "Bring along a good book."

This year has been a nightmare for travelers, with lengthy delays on the tarmac and large numbers of flight delays. Through June, 27.1% of flights were at least 15 minutes late or canceled, a record for the period, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Figures released Thursday from the FAA show this summer is the worst ever for flight delays. From June through Monday, the FAA recorded 159,000 delays, a 19% increase over last year, the agency said. The delays are also sharply higher than 1999 and 2000, which had been the benchmarks for severe delays.

The good news for travelers this weekend is that weather over most of the country — particularly at the congested East Coast and Great Lakes airports — is forecast to be clear.
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"From Boston to D.C., across to Detroit and the Midwest, over to Chicago and Minneapolis, all the way over to Denver, that corridor is in good shape for the weekend," said Mark Ressler of the Weather Channel.

Thunderstorms are expected in the Southeast and could cause slowdowns at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Ressler said. Hartsfield is the world's busiest airport.

The Air Transport Association (ATA), a Washington trade group representing large airlines, predicted 15.7 million passengers would travel from Wednesday through next Wednesday, a 2.6% increase over the same period last year.

When asked what passengers should anticipate, ATA spokesman David Castelveter said: "Regrettably, the answer is they should expect delays. On a blue sky day, they should expect delays."

Overall traffic levels are only slightly higher than last year, according to the FAA, but have increased sharply at key areas, such as New York City's three airports. That has meant that increasing numbers of delays occur due to high volumes of traffic, according to FAA data.

Americans are expected to travel at about the same level as last year, according to AAA, the travel advocacy group. Its survey estimates 34.6 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home this weekend.