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Secretary Slater Releases Thanksgiving Travel Information and Warns Air Travelers to Allow Extra Time in Preparation

:: Contact BTS 18-00 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Friday, November 17, 2000 -- U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater today cautioned air travelers about allowing extra travel time due to heavy travel during the Thanksgiving holiday as he released a report showing that during the 1999 Thanksgiving season, the greatest number of flight delays and cancellations took place on the Monday and Tuesday before the holiday and on the following Monday.

The analysis was prepared by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

"Consistent with President Clinton and Vice President Gore's commitment to 'put people first,' the U.S. Department of Transportation is undertaking a broad effort to improve customer service and information flow for air travelers," Secretary Slater said. "Improving customer service ranks second only to safety here at DOT, and the information from BTS will help travelers understand past Thanksgiving travel patterns so they can properly prepare for this Thanksgiving."

The BTS analysis found the following about Thanksgiving 1999:

"We believe that travelers will find this information on the performance of the air travel system during the last Thanksgiving Day weekend useful, " Dr. Ashish Sen, BTS Director, said. "We at BTS are trying hard to make transportation data accessible and useful for all consumers."

Last year, the system's greatest flight delays took place on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving Day at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago where the average departing flight was delayed 30 minutes and departing passengers reached their destinations 41 minutes behind schedule. Detailed information on overall delays, cancellations and diversions, the performance of the major airlines and delays at the nation's 29 most heavily traveled airports can be found on the BTS website at

The BTS website also has a special feature about delays at LaGuardia Airport in New York, the nation's most congested airport.

Travelers should be aware that previous flight delay patterns may not be repeated during this Thanksgiving holiday week.

In other measures to provide better information flow and customer service for air travelers, DOT formed a task force to consider ways to improve the on-time information that airlines and DOT provide to consumers. The task force will issue its recommendations to Secretary Slater later this month. In addition, the department last month issued a report on airlines' "best practices" for improving the accuracy and timeliness of flight information to air travelers. The department's Federal Aviation Administration also is moving forward with the industry to develop a long-term plan to address capacity problems.