Late, Again

What can be done about airline flight delays?

IT OFFERS little comfort to air travelers to know that statistics confirm their worst impressions: Yes, planes are taking off later and later, and on-time arrivals are becoming fewer and fewer. As we noted in a recent editorial on congressional proposals for a passenger's bill of rights, June was one of the worst months ever, with more flights delayed by three hours or more than in all of 1995. What's going on -- and what is to be done?

A system that was approaching trouble in 2000 won a ghoulish reprieve when the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, discouraged air travel. Now the numbers of flights and passengers are climbing again. More than 750 million passengers will travel on domestic commercial flights this year, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, and by 2015 the number will exceed 1 billion. "The current system will not handle that," says FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey. "We will hit gridlock."

No magic wand will make delays disappear or turn flying into a reliably pleasant experience. But there are remedies, both long-term and short. The FAA supports the long-term remedy, which is technological, but it faces opposition in Congress on finding a rational way to pay for it. The agency hasn't yet signed up for the needed short-term fix.

Air traffic control in this country still depends on ground-to-air radar, less sophisticated than the Global Positioning System device you may have in your car. Advancing to an air-traffic control system providing satellite coverage of the entire sky would allow more planes to fly safely on heavily trafficked routes. In bits and pieces, such a system is being installed. But moving everyone will take billions of dollars and the better part of a decade.

To pay for the government's portion (airlines will have to upgrade their planes' avionics), the FAA has proposed a fairer way to replenish the airline trust fund, which now relies heavily on a passenger ticket tax. A key change would be to ask the operators of business jets -- such as the Gulfstreams that fly corporate CEOs around -- to pay their fair share. At the moment, according to the FAA, general and corporate aviation account for 16 percent of the system's costs, but pay only 3 percent of those costs. Not surprisingly, the lobby that represents corporate aviation is fighting back. It says a fairer way to calculate costs would be to determine how expensive an air traffic control system the airlines require and then just allocate incremental expenses to the private jets and planes. But with corporate aviation set to grow rapidly in the next five years, the FAA is right to look for a more equitable and predictable revenue stream.

Even if modernization proceeds as swiftly and fairly as possible, though, Ms. Blakey acknowledges that relief won't be likely until 2013. And here's the problem: Airlines schedule too many flights at peak times from hub airports. The government should step in and limit the number of flights at those busiest times and places. It could accomplish this with auctions that raised money for the system while putting a reasonable price on the most valuable slots. Airlines can charge more for peak flying if they wish; there's no reason they shouldn't pay more, too.