Airline complaints an issue...

One in four domestic flights were late last year and people are not thrilled with the continuing issues. The downside is it appears that the consumer will be the one who ends up bearing the brunt of the cost to make things better:

Aviation officials are considering forcing carriers to shrink their flight schedules or to pay more to fly during peak travel periods, though the traveling public could end up with higher fares as a result.

The airline industry and the Federal Aviation Administration blame the delays on outdated air traffic control technology, bad weather and increasing passenger traffic. Commercial airlines' use of smaller planes and an increase in general aviation by business travelers also increased air and runway congestion, analysts said.

The industry has blamed everyone except themselves for the delays, but cannot ignore the recent flurry of government and flier attention, Mann said.

The "meteoric rise" of private aircraft used by business travelers should also be a concern, Mann said, because it shows that increased productivity is more important than the extra money spent to avoid the "basic unreliability" and lengthy security procedures associated with commercial aviation.

My father was a corporate pilot, private aircraft has been blamed before for problems when the reality is the increase in the charter and private flying is a direct result of the performance of the traditional airlines.