Airports Overcrowding

Many a visitor to Japan has a horror story, or two, to tell about Narita Airport. Minutes after arriving at the gateway to this land of affluence and high technology, the typical traveler must wade through endless lines at an immigration inspection, battle ludicrous crowds to board a limousine bus and grind molars during a frustrating two-hour freeway jam to a downtown hotel. It gets worse on the trip home.

Congestion at eight major airports during peak hours or in bad weather will seriously disrupt air travel across the nation during the busy summer season, according to a study by the Federal Aviation Administration. Officials said the congestion could match or exceed last summer's delays, which inconvenienced tens of millions of vacation-season travelers and prompted congressional scrutiny.

Saying that the proposed expansion of Los Angeles International Airport is "troubling," the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday demanded a voice in the city's plans to enlarge the overcrowded facility. The board also urged the city to develop a regional approach to anticipated growth in air traffic that would siphon some activity from LAX to smaller airports. "L.A. city has turned a deaf ear on the other 87 cities in L.A.

Seeking solutions for air travel gridlock, federal policymakers and officials at some of the busiest airports are moving closer to a controversial fix: hefty congestion premiums for landing at peak travel hours. Proponents of the idea say that increasing the landing fees--by as much as tenfold at some airports--would force airlines to spread out their flights and encourage a return to bigger planes instead of using the small commuter jets that increasingly are crowding the airways.

The nation's airports need an infusion of up to $50 billion for facilities development or the air transport system faces "gridlock," a House subcommittee heard Tuesday. Otis Dunham, chairman of Airport Operators Council International, told the House Public Works and Transportation Committee's subcommittee on aviation that it would cost $50 billion, adjusting for inflation, to build up American airport facilities to meet public demand by 1995. Representatives of the National Assn.

Blaming "insurmountable" traffic and environmental problems, an Orange County government staff report Tuesday ruled out using any of four largely local sites recommended for a regional airport but called for more study of a remote location in San Bernardino County's Mojave Desert. In a proposal that the Board of Supervisors is expected to approve next Tuesday, the staff endorsed using George Air Force Base, near the town of Adelanto about 80 miles northeast of Anaheim.

Air traffic controllers in Washington will manage the flow of planes into Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, a move to help local controllers and clear congested skies, the Transportation Department announced. Transportation Secretary James H. Burnley IV announced the change one day after the Federal Aviation Administration reduced the number of departures and arrivals at O'Hare. This year, controllers at O'Hare have made 30 errors, more than twice the mistakes recorded in 1987.

The nation's airlines, meeting for the third day to shuffle flight schedules in a bid to reduce delays, agreed to 150 timetable changes for Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport. Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the world's busiest, appeared to be a difficult problem for switching schedules during talks arranged by the Federal Aviation Administration. So far, only 33 changes were worked out for O'Hare.

Mayor Richard M. Daley proposed building a $4.9-billion, 9,400-acre airport in the Lake Calumet area on Chicago's Southeast Side, to be operational by 2010. The site includes hazardous waste areas and about 5,500 residences. Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.), who prefers to expand O'Hare International Airport, criticized Daley's cost figures as too low.

Saying that the proposed expansion of Los Angeles International Airport is "troubling," the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday demanded a voice in the city's plans to enlarge the overcrowded facility. The board also urged the city to develop a regional approach to anticipated growth in air traffic that would siphon some activity from LAX to smaller airports. "L.A. city has turned a deaf ear on the other 87 cities in L.A.

Just because you have a plane ticket for a seat to a foreign country, don't assume the deal includes a seat in the terminal to wait for your flight. Opened in 1984 when only 6.8 million passengers passed through its halls per year, the Tom Bradley International Terminal at the L.A. airport now accommodates about 10 million passengers annually. Just walk into the departure hall and the problem is evident.

The world's busiest airport is getting too much business. Neighbors of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport have long been upset over its noise and fumes, and air travelers are increasingly choosing to make connections in other cities rather than endure delays during peak hours. O'Hare simply has reached its capacity.

Airline deregulation achieved the intended effect of getting more people to fly, but it also created a nettlesome side product: overcrowding on the ground and congestion in the air. And the numbers just keep growing. According to figures compiled by the Air Transport Assn., 316 million passengers flew in 1979, the first year without heavy government regulation, compared with 454 million in 1989. Over the same period, the number of airplane departures soared from 5.4 million to 6.

Southern California--land of the jet set and the frequent flier--is edging dangerously close to airport gridlock. Without new airfields or dramatic expansion of existing ones, flying to and from the Southland could become an intolerably expensive and punishing challenge by the turn of the century. Already, experts say, the region's airport capacity shortage is the country's third worst, trailing only Chicago and New York.

As civic assets go, airports rank right up there with garbage dumps and jails: Society needs them, but these are not facilities the average mayor highlights in the annual state-of-the-city address. Bureaucrats call them LULUs: large, unwanted land-uses. So what is one to make of Adelanto? This scrappy little burg in the high desert north of San Bernardino is defying logic by wooing, of all things, a commercial airport. And not just any airport.

Seeking solutions for air travel gridlock, federal policymakers and officials at some of the busiest airports are moving closer to a controversial fix: hefty congestion premiums for landing at peak travel hours. Proponents of the idea say that increasing the landing fees--by as much as tenfold at some airports--would force airlines to spread out their flights and encourage a return to bigger planes instead of using the small commuter jets that increasingly are crowding the airways.

A congressman who sits on a powerful House aviation panel said Friday that he strongly opposes two Orange County sites recommended for a new regional airport. A third primary site is in San Bernardino County. Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad) said potential airport sites in Cleveland National Forest east of San Juan Capistrano and at Camp Pendleton, both in Packard's 43rd Congressional District, "are unacceptable to me, and I will fight them."

Blaming "insurmountable" traffic and environmental problems, an Orange County government staff report Tuesday ruled out using any of four largely local sites recommended for a regional airport but called for more study of a remote location in San Bernardino County's Mojave Desert. In a proposal that the Board of Supervisors is expected to approve next Tuesday, the staff endorsed using George Air Force Base, near the town of Adelanto about 80 miles northeast of Anaheim.

Mayor Richard M. Daley proposed building a $4.9-billion, 9,400-acre airport in the Lake Calumet area on Chicago's Southeast Side, to be operational by 2010. The site includes hazardous waste areas and about 5,500 residences. Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.), who prefers to expand O'Hare International Airport, criticized Daley's cost figures as too low.