Use of military corridors eases crunch on ground and in sky
Travelers expecting the worst were happy that the worst did not happen as Thanksgiving holiday traffic was not a cause of significant delays at any of our metro airports. When President Bush made the military flight corridors available for commercial flights, it eased both the congestion and allowed airlines to do better flight planning. Diane Spitaliere, spoke for the Federal Aviation Administration, and said that while commercial flights previously used military airspace on an as-needed basis, this was the first time the deal was made beforehand. "It's done on a fairly routine basis, but there's not a lot of planning, they just turn it over. ... The difference this time was it was coordinated well in advance," she said. "(The airlines) knew that space would be available to them and they could plan on using it." More than 100 flights used the airspace the days leading up to Thanksgiving, Spitaliere said, and more than 120 flights had used it before the advent of the holiday. Delays were minimal yesterday at most major East Coast airports, including Newark Liberty and John F. Kennedy International Airport. Some airline officials said they hope the military would continue to make the space available on holiday weekends, such as Christmas and New Year. Clear weather also helped keep the operations running smoothly. Except for some rain Thursday, the weekend weather was cool and clear, said Ray Kruzdlo, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly. More travelers flew on the Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving and did not cram in on Wednesday or Thursday flights and this also made the traffic ease up from prior years. |
