Flight Delays up at Piedmont Triad Int'l in North Carolina

The number of delayed airline flights has been rising in the nation and in North Carolina this year. And more flights at Piedmont Triad International Airport were delayed in May than at the state's other largest airports.

As the busy summer travel season shifts into high gear, those delays could be bad news for some of the hundreds of thousands of people who will travel through PTI in the coming months.

Still, the delays - defined as flights that are 15 or more minutes late - haven't caused any obvious problems for the airport, said Ted Johnson, the executive director.

And one airline - US Airways - achieved a perfect record of no delayed flights at PTI for May.

Johnson hasn't heard complaints from passengers, he said, and "we get real concerned if we had a lot of complaints about this thing."

On average, about a quarter of PTI's flights were delayed for some reason on departure or arrival, according to a new report by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

That's more than double the number of late flights in May of 2005, and about 2 percent higher than Raleigh-Durham International Airport, which ranked second among the state's top three airports. Charlotte Douglas was third with about 19 percent of its flights delayed.

For the nation, carriers reported delays on about 20 percent of their flights in May, up from about 15 percent in May 2005.

US Airways is the dominant carrier at PTI. Second-ranked Delta reported late arrivals for 15 percent of its flights; third-ranked United reported delays for almost one of every three flights.

At PTI, the majority of the delays are caused by airlines and aircraft arriving late, followed by weather and delays with the air traffic control system.

Johnson said one reason PTI's numbers are worse than other airports could be that most of its flights are headed to or leaving from a busier hub airport like Charlotte or Atlanta.

Also, PTI lies between major air-traffic control centers in Atlanta and Washington , Johnson said.

"There are a number of airplanes that are going over us," he said, "and we have to work our way into slots."

Otherwise, "there should be no problems at all with the airport here. We don't have any crowding. We don't have any holds on takeoffs or landings that are created by the airport," he said. "There's not much I can do about the airlines."

Johnson said that with airlines using small regional jets more to save money, the skies are a bit more crowded with planes, even if passenger numbers remain the same. That can also spawn delays, he said.

US Airways can't offer a specific reason why it had such good results in May, said spokeswoman Valerie Wunder. Since emerging from bankruptcy, the company has been working harder to improve service in all areas, she said.

"There wasn't really a reason behind it," she said. Nationally, about 19 percent of US Airways' flights were delayed.

Johnson said that airlines in general may be allowing more time in their schedules so they don't have to report late times.

Other than aiming at perfection, there really isn't a set standard for airline delays, said Bill Mosley, a Department of Transportation spokesman. Salt Lake City hit the highest mark in May with nearly 90 percent of its flights on time. Boston had the worst record with 64 percent on time.

The biggest cause for delays was glitches in the national traffic control system, followed closely by weather.

Contact Richard M. Barron at 373-7371 or dbarron @news-record.com

* US Airways scored perfect marks for flying on time at PTI in May.

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