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Prez Orders Action to Reduce Flight Delays

Panel will produce plan to cut traffic at Kennedy Airport by end of year

By Colleen Barry,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 28, 2007 8:28 AM CDT

(Newser) – After a summer of nightmarish ordeals for airline passengers, President Bush yesterday ordered his transportation secretary to sit down with the airlines and do something to reduce delays and improve treatment of travelers by next summer. “There’s a lot of anger amongst our citizens about the fact that, you know, they’re just not being treated right,” Bush said.

The formation of an advisory commission, charged to work out a plan by the end of the year, was welcomed by the airlines, which have been prevented by antitrust laws from working together to address the issue. Most of the focus will be on New York, which handles a third of the nation's air traffic, but some proposals would affect everyone—one idea on table is raising compensation for bumped passengers from $200 to $624. 

In this photo taken with a cell phone, passengers aboard JetBlue Flight 751 to Cancun walk around the cabin while waiting to take off at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, in this Feb. 14, 2007 file photo. JetBlue made headlines in February when an ice storm that...
In this photo taken with a cell phone, passengers aboard JetBlue Flight 751 to Cancun walk around the cabin while waiting to take off at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, in this Feb....   (Associated Press)
JetBlue Airways Corp. passengers sleep and work on computers as they wait for flights at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, in this Feb. 15, 2007 file photo. JetBlue made headlines in February when an ice storm that socked the Northeast collided head on with the carrier's policy of not...
JetBlue Airways Corp. passengers sleep and work on computers as they wait for flights at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, in this Feb. 15, 2007 file photo. JetBlue made headlines in February when an...   (Associated Press)
In this photo provided by Virgin America, a Virgin America plane arrives from New York at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, on Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007.
In this photo provided by Virgin America, a Virgin America plane arrives from New York at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, on Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007.   (Associated Press)
The grounds of John F. Kennedy International Airport is seen in New York, Saturday, June 2, 2007.
The grounds of John F. Kennedy International Airport is seen in New York, Saturday, June 2, 2007.   (Associated Press)
The grounds of John F. Kennedy International Airport is seen in New York, Saturday, June 2, 2007.
The grounds of John F. Kennedy International Airport is seen in New York, Saturday, June 2, 2007.   (Associated Press)
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