Airline Pilot Speaks Out On Flight Delays

Well, what a wonderful feel good fluff piece. But, the author forgot to mention one detail when stating that airline prices are "low". Namely that they aren't. Every airline is subsidized, heavily, with taxpayer dollars. So, what he should have perhaps said was... "Even if you aren't flying... you're paying to."

tsatony... what ever Speaking as a fellow TSA employee... you and I BOTH KNOW that there is no change in security...

TSATONY, it *should* sadden you that we are more concerned with the appearance of safety than we are with actual safety. Great article!

I was sad to read your comments /insults about the TSA. I have been an employee since the first anniversary of 9/11 and have worked with some of the most intelligent, diverse and patriotic individuals in the nation. I might have smiled at you as you walked through Logan Airport or assisted you to the front of the line as flight crews are allowed to proceed (as a courtesy). they way to solve problems is to work together with others not rip them apart.

I thought the entire series was well done. It isn't like RD is an investigative journal or anything so the complaints aren't warranted. I think the info about CAPBOR is what is setting people off. I hope that one day soon a bill of rights for passengers comes to fruition. I also hope that one day it is made illegal for airlines to oversell their flights, selling seats they don't have and selling the same seats more than once. It will go a long way in preventing delays as well.

Well, it seems RD is so busy that they will take the word of one disgruntled airline pilot about the cause of air traffic congestion. If you will check www.aopa.com you will find actual and accurate statistics on this subject, not some jerk's exaggerations. Much of the private jet traffic has been generated by the unreliable operation of airlines. The users of the private jets need to be at meetings, etc. on a reliable schedule; using their own transport is the only way to insure they make it.

I thought Reader's Digest checked the facts before publishing a story. Patrick Smith must be receiving a bonus from his airline to smear General Aviation. Delays are the airlines fault only and the airlines are trying to get their fees paid by others. GA pilots like us have always landed at small or "reliver" airports to avoid the "big boys". Shame on Mr. Smith.

General aviation, anything other than airline or military flights, is often cited as a cause for airliner delays. This very seldom happens. The National Airspace System was put in place to enhance airline safety but general aviation has to live with it. I have been delayed many times by airline traffic, or required to fly miles out of my way, but never caused an airliner the same problem. I am a professional pilot with 33,000 hours logged in over 40 years of flying.

It is egregious, outrageous, incompetent journalism that attempts to blame small jets, aka GA ("General Aviation), for airport congestion. Hey RD, why not report on multiple recent congressional hearings directed specifically at understanding the basis of commercial carrier's miserable timeliness records? GA has very little to do with it. The carriers themselves are the single most controllable cause, as the AOPA reporting notes.

"At a hearing on New York airspace congestion, nobody pointed a finger at general aviation as a cause for airline delays. Even the airline’s chief lobbyist, who in the past has sounded off about restricting general aviation flights around New York, didn’t blame GA when he had to testify before the House aviation subcommittee on June 18. The fault, according to the witnesses, lies with a lack of ground capacity, airline scheduling practices, and ultimately with the FAA." -AOPA online