The US Department of Transportation reports today that flight delays across the country are the highest they've been in 13 years. Well, here in Boston things must be different because the honest people at Massport assured everyone that Logan Airport needed to add a fifth runway to lessen the number of delays, right?Let's take a look. According to statistics at the DOT site, 59.53% of the arrivals at Logan were on time in June of 2006. One year later, in June 2007 -- six months after Runway 14-32 was put into action -- 59.37% of the planes arrived on time. Well, departures fared better: 67.59% left on time last June and 68.41% were on schedule this June. Hey, a jump of 0.82% percent isn't worth sneezing at.
Actually, it's worth laughing at, as is much of the other data. Now, of course, we're being told that the centerfield taxiway will make everything run smoother. Well, the good folks at Massport wouldn't dismiss our quality of life concerns without good reason, so it must be true, right?
2 comments:
Are there more flights this year? I wouldn't want to defend Massport, but if Logan is dealing with a lot more flights, the delay numbers aren't that bad...
I'm sure there are more flights as the airline industry recovers from their post 9/11 slump, but Massport's rationale was that the move was necessary to lower the number of delays.
There will always be more flights, but Logan Airport cannot expand indefinitely. A broader plan taking advantage of regional airports needs to be part of the discussion.
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