Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES
The US Air Transport Association (ATA) and United Airlines have reacted angrily to plans proposed by San Francisco Airport (SFO) to cut flights by 30-seat aircraft and reduce the overall frequency of flights from the Bay Area in efforts to reduce delays.
The plan, filed with the US Federal Aviation Administration "violates federal law, would drastically reduce service to smaller cities and would damage small communities as well as the entire Bay Area economy" says ATA president Carol Hallet. The petition seeks to prohibit use of aircraft with fewer than 50 seats and would particularly hit United's feeder operations at SFO from local cities such as Fresno and Sacramento.
SFO denies targeting United specifically, saying that it intends to petition the FAA to impose size restrictions on aircraft regardless of operator. Nonetheless, United is the dominant carrier at SFO and would be hardest hit.
"It would be nothing short of a disaster for the airport to attempt to seek to impose heavy-handed regulations on United," says the airline's president, Rono Dutta. United operates over 230 flights a day into SFO, down from last year's July peak of almost 270 daily.
SFO officials say drastic action is required because of its growing reputation as the most delayed airport in the USA.
Airline and ATA officials say, however, that this is more to do with the proximity of the main parallel runways to each other and overall runway layout, which is badly affected when low cloud and fog causes poor visibility.
This reduces runway capacity and has prompted the development of an improved radar approach system called SOIA (simultaneous offset instrument approaches), which is due in operation in mid-2001. SOIA is being developed by SFO management, the FAA and United to improve overall runway capacity by 10 to 15% in bad weather.
The ATA says the intended action is prohibited by federal law. "Under the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, any efforts by an airport, city, state or other entity to set prices, determine routes or mandate types of aircraft used are specifically prohibited. This section of the law was enacted to ensure free and open competition by airlines without government interference," it says.
Source: Flight International
