Science Article #4

Air Traffic Delays Cost U.S. More Than Hurricanes

Perkins, S. “Air Traffic Delays Cost U.S. More than Hurricanes”. Wired Science. January 21, 2010
Retrieved January 30, 2010 From
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/01/air-traffic-costs/

You often hear about the several hours delay that people experience when their flight gets cancelled or delayed but even the smallest delay can play a devastating role with the air traffic. Each flight across the nation is dependent on the other flight. If one flight is late, this makes the other flight late as well. So, a few minutes can be just as costly as couple hours because all it takes is one flight that got delayed, the rest gets delayed by chain reaction.

The storms in the Midwest can cause little problems but it is the busiest skyways like the east coast that can cause the most trouble. If there is a storm brewing on the east coast, this will definitely cause a delay if not countless delays amongst the busiest airports. According to Greg Forbes, a meteorologist at the Weather Channel in Atlanta, “It doesn’t take a severe weather to disrupt air traffic”.

The economic cost of these delayed flights can exceed the damages that hurricanes inflict. According to Bob Maxson, director of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Aviation Weather Center in Kansas-City, the cost of these air traffic delays may have cost the economy over $135 billions within the past 9 years from 2000-2008. The hurricane inflicted about $131 billion in damages with that 9-year period. These delays not only upset most passengers but also really put a dent on the economy.