The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — The nation’s major airlines say they will soon be operating between 75 percent and 80 percent of the schedules they maintained before Tuesday’s deadly hijackings.
But America’s skies will be less crowded than they were before as airlines cut flight schedules and employees, anticipating fewer passengers in the aftermath of last week’s attacks.
US Airways operated about two-thirds of its flights Sunday and says it hopes to hit 75 percent of its 4,478 daily departures today. That figure does not include the 186 shuttle flights out of Reagan National Airport, which remains closed.
American Airlines, which operated about 65 percent of its normal schedule Sunday, plans to add flights until it reaches 1,920 flights, or about 80 percent of its previous schedule.
Delta Airlines operated about 1,425 flights Sunday, or 75 percent of its normal schedule, and expects to return to 80 percent within a few days.
Some of those new totals may turn out to be permanent. As previously reported, Continental and Northwest airlines plan to reduce their flight schedules by 20 percent. Continental announced 12,000 layoffs Saturday, and Northwestern said it would review its staffing needs. Sunday United Airlines also announced a 20 percent flight reduction.
Federal Aviation Administrator Jane Garvey said Sunday she expected to announce as early as today that passenger aircraft could once again carry mail and cargo under new security arrangements. They were banned as a security measure when aircraft were allowed to begin flying Thursday.
Airlines and high-value manufacturers, such as computer chip makers in Asia, are already reporting economic damage from the inability to handle cargo.
Nationwide, about 4,800 flights, including commercial airplanes, private planes and military aircraft, were in the air Sunday, about two-thirds the volume of a typical Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
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