I forgot to mention my husband’s hypothesis: crowding flights into popular time slots will increase the popularity of building an additional runway at O’Hare, a proposal that has been extremely controversial as it would involve the paving of substantial portions of a couple of nearby towns.
UPDATE: Gary Leff has a post that builds on my earlier post on time slot pricing. Gary pushes the argument in the right direction, and cites some news and research relevant to the question.
I’ve always thought that expanding O’Hare should be a last resort, *after* marketizing the gate/time slot system there. Expanding O’Hare because there are too many delays now is like adding another lane to a highway (or building another one) because it’s too crowded during rush hour. Obviously, we should first allow people to pay different toll rates based on when they’re traveling to even out the traffic flow.
I’ve always thought that expanding O’Hare should be a last resort, *after* marketizing the gate/time slot system there. Expanding O’Hare because there are too many delays now is like adding another lane to a highway (or building another one) because it’s too crowded during rush hour. Obviously, we should first allow people to pay different toll rates based on when they’re traveling to even out the traffic flow.
I’ve always thought that expanding O’Hare should be a last resort, *after* marketizing the gate/time slot system there. Expanding O’Hare because there are too many delays now is like adding another lane to a highway (or building another one) because it’s too crowded during rush hour. Obviously, we should first allow people to pay different toll rates based on when they’re traveling to even out the traffic flow.
I’ve always thought that expanding O’Hare should be a last resort, *after* marketizing the gate/time slot system there. Expanding O’Hare because there are too many delays now is like adding another lane to a highway (or building another one) because it’s too crowded during rush hour. Obviously, we should first allow people to pay different toll rates based on when they’re traveling to even out the traffic flow.
Just thinking out loud here…
Suppose you do auction slots, or at least prime time slots, at O’Hare. If you don’t do it everywhere else, doesn’t that create an incentive for airlines to route connecting flights through some other city?
I’m not saying this is a bad thing. Less traffic at O’Hare might relieve a bottleneck in the air traffic system. The question is whether this is something O’Hare would want to have happen. And also, I suppose, whether the airlines committed to O’Hare as their Midwest hub would want that to happen either, since it could mean higher costs for them relative to their competitors.
Zathras:
Good point. However, the reasoning behind the O’Hare expansion plan is that unless O’Hare is expanded flights will be routed elsewhere. You can’t win for losin’
Reason against O’Hare expansion: it’s racist. Most of the people who would be displaced by an O’Hare expansion are minority.
Reason for O’Hare expansion: the towns adjacent to O’Hare that would lose territory are heavily dependent on O’Hare. If flights to O’Hare are reduced people in those towns will lose their jobs.
What really gripes me on the subject of O’Hare expansion is that Chicago already had a 3rd airport. It was called Glenview Naval Air Station. It was bulldozed to create upscale housing, shopping, and recreational area which is an environmental hazard waiting to be discovered. Would you want your kids to be playing over an area that used to be a dumping ground for the military? Chicago’s record is now unblemished: two airports bulldozed in under ten years.
>>Reason for O’Hare expansion: the towns adjacent to O’Hare that would lose territory are heavily dependent on O’Hare. If flights to O’Hare are reduced people in those towns will lose their jobs.
This is absolutely true (I live in one of those towns, Mount Prospect). Even many people who don’t directly benefit from O’Hare, like my next door neighbor who is a United stewardess, benefit. My company has a lot of frequent fliers, and it is VERY CONVENIENT to be 2 miles from an airport with so many international flights. Not having a connection is key to efficient business travel.
Just a point: O’Hare should not be owned by Chicago. It should be run by a state authority. People in my town are against O’Hare for many reasons, but one is that it will primarily benefit the Daleys and Chicago. It’s a big pissing match, a city/ suburb thing. If O’Hare were a state authority, Chicago woouldn’t benefit so overtly over the suburbs.
I know, it’s politics of the most petty sort. But that’s just life, and making O’Hare a state authority would clear that up real good.