This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@juno.com. /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ Presenting the reloadable Starbucks Card. The Starbucks Card is reloadable from $5 - $500. Fill it up. Use it. Use it. Then, fill it up again. https://www.starbucks.com/shop/reload.asp?ci=672 \----------------------------------------------------------/ Air Traffic Is Off Almost Everywhere, but the Dip Is Uneven March 12, 2002 By MATTHEW L. WALD WASHINGTON, March 11 - In the five full months after the Sept. 11 attacks, the number of flights at the nation's 31 major hub airports declined by 12.2 percent from the corresponding period the year before, the Federal Aviation Administration said today. But the drop was much sharper at Kennedy International and La Guardia Airports in New York, Ronald Reagan National here in Washington and Los Angeles International, among others. The data are in the aviation agency's annual forecast, being formally issued on Tuesday, which envisions air traffic remaining depressed this year but returning to preattack levels in 2003. The forecast makes three assumptions: continued economic recovery, only small increases in fuel prices and no more terrorist attacks. "Clearly we are counting on no further terrorist events of major consequence," said John M. Rodgers, the agency's director of aviation policy and plans. "That is the assumption that we all hope for." The air-traffic statistics collected by the agency paint a clear picture of a severe but uneven impact from the Sept. 11 attacks. Affected the worst was Reagan National Airport, which was shut completely until early October and has started up again only gradually. From Oct. 1 through Feb. 28, the period covered in the statistics, National lost 56.1 percent of its commercial operations, and 62.5 percent of all operations, including general aviation and military flights. Next-worst was Los Angeles International, which lost 22.5 percent of commercial operations, followed by La Guardia, at 21.1 percent, and Kennedy, at 21.0. The other major airport in the New York area, Newark International, was off 13 percent. The only gains in commercial operations were the 10.4 percent at Salt Lake City, where the Winter Olympics were held, and 4.2 percent at Minneapolis-St. Paul. Charlotte, N.C.; Cincinnati; Pittsburgh; and Baltimore-Washington International recorded only small losses. But like airports in Los Angeles and New York, others on the East and West Coasts, including those at San Francisco, Boston and Seattle-Tacoma, fared badly. In the current fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1, the number of people boarding airplanes will drop 12 percent from last year, to 600.3 million, the agency predicted. While the aviation agency recorded sharp declines in flights by the major carriers in the five months through Feb. 28, it found growth in flights by regional planes, which it defines as those with 70 seats or fewer. That change is partly attributable to design. Because of cost efficiencies, the large carriers, which in many cases own all or part of regional lines, are shifting business to them, Mr. Rodgers said. Given the current unsettled state of security, the regional carriers face new competition from travelers' cars, and in some cases from rail service. But Mr. Rodgers predicted that regional planes would become more prevalent, quadrupling in number by 2013, to 2,900 from the current 700. While commercial aviation was suffering after Sept. 11, military flights from the hub airports were not, rising 4.5 percent. General aviation, on the other hand, comprising private planes and corporate jets, dropped 22.7 percent. The Air Transport Association, which represents the major carriers, said today that losses exceeded $7 billion in 2001, about $4 billion more than had been expected before Sept. 11 because of a recession-related slump in air travel. Airlines parked or retired 350 planes after Sept. 11, the association said, including 101 Boeing 727's, by far the largest category idled. One result of the retirements is that load factors - the proportion of seats that are filled - are expected to rise to 72.3 percent this year, from 71.3 percent last year. Still, the break-even load factor for last year was 77 percent, the association said. The aviation agency said that despite the slowdown, it believed that traffic would return and that it should press ahead with improvements in air traffic control. "If we delay that investment now, we would just be ruing the day two years from now or three years from now," said Louise Maillett, the agency's acting assistant administrator for policy, planning and international aviation. At the Air Transport Association, Michael Wascom, a spokesman, agreed that "now is not the time to put everything on the back burner." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/12/national/12HUB.html?ex=1016959259&ei=1&en=229e30b90f60df0e HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales@nytimes.com or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@nytimes.com. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company