U.S. flight delays soar in November

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Flight delays continue to plague the American aviation system after hitting record-high levels last summer.

The Federal Aviation Administration Friday reported 34,266 flight delays for November, 46.9 per cent more than in November 1999.

Though the numbers rose in all categories of delays compared with last November, the FAA said the increase is due almost entirely to bad weather and growing congestion at New York's La Guardia Airport.

June had the most delays in aviation history -- with 50,114.

Here's last month's breakdown:

 • Weather-related delays -- Unusual weather patterns -- particularly thunderstorms associated with warmer months -- continued to affect the Midwest and South. Early-winter weather affected airports in the Great Lakes region. Overall, delays due to weather rose 43.7 per cent from last November.

Generally, winter weather such as snow, ice and poor visibility affect airports but not the air routes between them. Thunderstorms are more disruptive to air travel because they block both the airport terminal areas and the air routes between them.

 • Volume-related delays -- Delays due to traffic volume were up more than 60 per cent from November of last year as flights at high-density airports continued to increase.

As in September and October, flights at La Guardia Airport increased significantly for the third consecutive month over the same month in 1999, causing an even greater increase in delays there.

Compared with November 1999, takeoffs and landings at La Guardia were up 22.1 percent to 37,353, and volume delays rose from 458 in November 1999 to 4,877 last month. Nationally, delays due to volume fell just under 5 percent from October.

 • Air traffic equipment delays -- Air traffic equipment delays increased from 556 in November 1999 to 1,206 this past November due to outages at the Boston and New York en route air traffic centers. However, equipment delays were down almost 50 per cent from October, which saw outages at three other en route centers. Equipment delays remain a small portion of the total; in November they were 3.5 per cent.

Continuing runway and taxiway construction at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and La Guardia Airport caused delays to increase significantly over November of last year, though they decreased significantly from the previous month.

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Federal Aviation Administration
La Guardia Airport
George Bush Intercontinental Airport/Houston
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

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