The firewalling of Chicago by American comes as part of a restructuring of schedules that will also affect the carrier's Dallas/Fort Worth hub.
American says the move to restructure was decided before this summer's severe delay problems, caused by a combination of air traffic control congestion, a union dispute at United Airlines and the weather. Stormy weather around Chicago made the problems particularly acute at that hub, which is a base for both American and United.
To help address the problem, American intends to insulate O'Hare from the rest of its domestic system as of early November. Aircraft operating in and out of Chicago will only serve those routes, and so any delays or cancellations will not have a knock-on effect on the rest of American's network. The plan is also designed to boost the company's aircraft utilisation rates in Chicago.
Announcing the changes, American's chairman and chief executive Don Carty said the moves should allow passengers "a little more breathing space" between connections. "We are trying to build a firewall between O'Hare and the rest of our network."
American states that the plan's necessity highlights the increasingly acute congestion problems which US carriers face. The country's established hub-and-spoke system puts more strain on the ATC system because of the banks of flights at peak periods.
Even at non-banked Newark, Continental Airlines is trying to improve operations by spreading out flights more evenly through the day. US Department of Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater has held meetings with chief executives from several major carriers because of his concerns about standards of customer service in the airline industry and the numbers of delayed and cancelled flights.
At Dallas, American will also add more time between flights to improve connections.
Source: Airline Business
