Problems Soar at Regional Airlines

Comair, which historically has ranked well in DOT standings, says its problems began last summer with Delta's major expansion at New York's Kennedy Airport. Dropping lots of new Comair flights into JFK, an airport already jammed with JetBlue Airways Corp., a major American operation and the afternoon and evening rush of European flights, meant the time airplanes spent taxiing in a conga line to takeoff increased 50 percent, said Don Stephens, Comair's vice president of system planning.

For now, Comair has convinced Delta to space out regional flights more at JFK and add minutes to schedules to more accurately reflect trip times. Comair has also bulked up its crew base at JFK to have more pilots and flight attendants available.

Atlantic Southeast, at the bottom of on-time performance, says it, too, is increasing staffing to try to improve. It also says it's making cockpit modifications that allow for landing in lower visibility, expanding gate areas, and investing in better hand-held radios and clocks that make it clear how close a flight is to departure for ramp workers. "We are starting to turn the corner," said Anthony DiNota, vice president of Atlantic Southeast's Atlanta operation.

American Eagle says it tried to cram more flights into its schedule in 2006 so it could grow without buying new aircraft. That meant flying planes more each day and turning them around more quickly between flights. "In some cases, we stretched too far," said spokesman Dave Jackson.

The airline also ran into a problem with its Embraer 145 jets, which carry 50 passengers. The airplane, one-third of the Eagle fleet, often was overweight. Taking baggage off meant lots of mishandled bags for customers -- Eagle's mishandled baggage rate was up 68 percent in October from a year earlier. To help, the airline has been modifying its E145 jets so they can carry an additional 1,300 pounds, Jackson said.

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