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Old 07-12-2006, 06:07 AM
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miker1369
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Joined APC: Apr 2006
Posts: 94
Default www.avoiddelays.com

www.avoiddelays.com

This comprehensive new tool, the brainchild of NATCA's very own Executive Vice President Ruth Marlin, will allow America's frustrated travelers to avoid delays, research chronically late flights, and lodge their complaints regarding their flying experience.

Controllers are already on the front lines of the most delayed aviation system in our nation's history, with more delayed flights than EVER before...like I had to tell YOU that. In fact, controllers who travel used to always be angered to hear a flight crew member blame delays on "air traffic control" or the "air traffic system." We always took that announcement personally and felt that it reflected poorly on our efforts to keep the system safe and orderly and efficient.

Well, guess what? Delays ARE due to "air traffic control" and the "air traffic control system." The FAA has gutted the system like a deer, leaving facilities without the equipment, facilities or people to get the job done. The result? You sit, and you wait. And the FAA has created a system where delays are planned, and expected, and programmatic. The FAA is planning to delay you as a matter of routine. In fact.....many, many delays now occur simply because there aren't enough controllers to do the job. I'll be publishing those confidential logs in a future blog.

But the millions of passengers we guide through the sky every day don't know much more beyond their own missed meetings and vacations and family dinners. They don't know how to navigate around the system and they don't know how to plan ahead to reduce their chances of getting delayed. For that matter, most travelers don't know WHY there are massive delays in the system, unless there's lightning dancing across the tarmac. In fact, many travelers stare out at clear blue skies as the gate agent announces their delay, wondering, "How can that be possible?" The poor passenger didn't have any information to help them understand the ripple effect of congestion, equipment failures and airline incompetence...UNTIL NOW.

I know, I know...the Department of Transportation releases it's "Consumer Report" to the public, but the average traveler probably has a better chance of decoding the IRS tax laws than deciphering the reams of data the DOT publishes. The same goes for registering complaints. Yes, the DOT has a way for you to do that but it's hard to find and it's not user friendly. This built-in frustration factor artificially suppresses complaint volume, leading politicians and airline executives to the completely wrong-headed conclusion that they are doing a pretty good job. Well, they aren't.

On avoiddelays.com we've done all the heavy lifting for the traveling consumer, and taken the frustration out of reporting your frustration. You don't have to interpret data. You don't have to surf all over the web. You don't have to wonder which airlines and which flights we are talking about. We give it to you in plain English, with easy to navigate web tools that will make avoiding delays easier than ever to do.

Before you book your flights, we give you the Top 10 Worst Lists (Most Delayed Departure Airports, Worst Delayed Flights, Worst times of Day to Fly into the Most Delayed Arrival airports); we give you historical delay info on your own airports or airports where you may have to connect; and we give you a whole boatload of tips to help you make those connections. On the day you fly, we give you live airport delay information, tools to check your own personal flight status, the number of delays the previous day and even a live shot of the U.S. ATC system. Basically, on avoiddelays.com, the nation's air traffic controllers are now giving American travelers one-stop shopping, free-of-charge, to make their lives just a little bit easier.

But guess what folks, that's NOT all - avoiddelays.com is also a HUGE public education tool that highlights the over-strained, over-congested, under-staffed system we all cope with every day.
Avoiddelays.com explains the whys and hows of delays. We help you understand how the delays you suffer through are unfortunately symptoms of a much larger problem that's only to get worse unless something is done and the system is fixed. To help fix that system, we're giving travelers an easy way to lodge their complaints, which we'll pass onto the powers that be at DOT.

The FAA isn't going to like this site because they know they have completely destroyed the air traffic control system. They will probably complain that this powerful new site is a "union tactic." That's going to ring awfully hollow considering the fact that its the agency's own data we are reporting, but you know the FAA motto: "We're Not Happy Until You're Not Happy." The airlines aren't going to like this site either, because you will get to see what greed, poor planning and irresponsible scheduling will do to the air traffic control system.

But I hope you LOVE the site, and I hope you will all invite your families, friends and neighbors, to check out, use, and keep coming back to www.avoiddelays.com. There's a "Feedback" link on the site, so feel free to let us know what you think, how we can make it better, and what you like. Information is power...send the web site link to everyone you know, and give them the power to avoid delays.
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