NATCA Launches New Site
A recent New York Times story gave warning to air travelers: Brace yourselves for a summer of miserable air travel. And the facts thus far back up the warning. There were more arrival delays in May than ever before in that month. Total delays in the system are at an all-time high.
With that as the backdrop, and feeling an obligation to warn travelers about worsening safety and efficiency problems due to staffing shortages, NATCA is now providing a new service to fliers, particularly buisness travelers. The union unveiled a new web site, www.avoiddelays.com that launched on July 12 and offers the best place on the web for travelers to get the information thay need to avoid flight delays.
"We know that congestion and delays are a symptom of a more serious problem; the continued FAA mismanagement of the system," NATCA Executive Vice President Ruth Marlin said. "We think travelers should demand solutions before today's inconvenience becomes tomorrow's safety crisis. This new site takes government data that is scattered across the web and puts it inone place so people can easily find information on airports, flights and even times of day to avoid."
The web site rollout was met with intense press, publicizing the site and the importance of bringing these issues to light. Controllers know the system keeps getting worse and even the Department of Transportation acknowledges that more and more delays are choking our nation's economy at a cost of $9.4 billion a year.
