Fliers caught in air-traffic web

This weekend portends to be another of those mass migration occasions, when harried travelers pack the nation's skyways and highways to make their way somewhere to celebrate summer's final holiday.

At the same time, the transportation professionals managing and maintaining the traffic flow on those corridors of air and asphalt will be struggling to get travelers there safely, on time and within budget. That's the way these clockwork systems are supposed to operate, and sometimes they do.

But all too often lately, with the road construction and airport aggravation, that's been a tall order.

Introduce a breath of bad weather, mechanical mishap, major event or labor demonstration into the equation, and suddenly many thousands of air travelers are forced to change, even cancel, their plans at the last minute, incurring considerable expense and stress in the process.

Does anyone else notice the ironic futility of scrambling around to secure an affordable fare or advertising to fill a plane that takes off late or not at all?

These delays are often more than someone being an hour or two late for dinner. Cruise passengers miss their boats, business travelers are absent at crucial meetings, wedding and funeral participants don't make it to the church on time.

National and local headlines in recent weeks indicate that our country's transportation systems are suffering bad cases of arterial sclerosis. (Certainly anyone who has tried to negotiate the orange barrel labyrinths of Downtown Pittsburgh harbors similar suspicions.)

Consider the complicated dynamics and accumulated symptoms threatening to melt down the national networks that control airline travel. On one hand, the planes are packed. On the other hand, too many flights are taking off late or not at all.

What's an industry to do?

Let's look at why so many planes are full.

As every air passenger knows, the carriers have developed the process of yield management to a fine science, one that mitigates the risks of flying planes that are less than full, while maximizing the average fare paid for those seats. Here's how the system works:

Trumpeted in full-page newspaper ads and e-mail advisements, airlines offer a percentage of the economy seats on any given flight at deep discounts a full season in advance. Lured by perceived savings, bargain-conscious travelers snatch up those seats, in effect contracting to pay now and fly later.

Other seats are set aside for group operators, ticket consolidators and other commercial entities. They have agreed to buy a given number of tickets at negotiated rates over the course of a year. Other seats are allocated for frequent fliers, denied boarding coupons and all the other "nonrevenue" tickets airlines generate.

Paying passengers who are able to make their travel plans at least 21 days in advance can usually find capacity-controlled seats at discounts of 15 to 20 percent over regular round-trip rates, although perhaps not on the exact flight they want.

Sometimes, if bookings to particular destinations or at certain times of year are moving slowly, the airlines boost business by offering enticing discounts on a percentage of seats, which are sold through e-mail and frequent-flier channels.

Travelers who do discover they have to take a trip within three weeks of departure generally have to pay full price, even if they're flying on low-cost carriers. Though the fares charged by major carriers are often shockingly high, they allow passengers to change their plans without penalty.

Finally, last-minute and spontaneous travelers also have a few options. They can try their chances at an online auction outlet or reverse bidding service, such as Priceline.com. These services guarantee they'll get you there, although not exactly how or when. And that's assuming there are no itinerary changes.

And let's not forget e-saver fares. Each Wednesday, airline seats still not sold for that Saturday's departures are offered at deep discounts. For example, lucky travelers this weekend could have flown round trip yesterday on US Airways to 15 destinations east of the Mississippi for between $109 and $129 and returned today , tomorrow or Tuesday. Flights to Kansas City cost $149 and Minneapolis $179. Book them online and you could save $10 and, if it was your first booking, earn 750 Bonus miles. Charge the purchase on a US Airlines affinity card and get an extra mile for every dollar.

But don't forget that since the airlines commonly accept a few more reservations than they have seats for on a plane, there's always the possibility of the gate attendants playing a game of bump. Any seat still empty as flight time approaches can be used for passengers who've been bumped from other flights, missed connections, waiting standby or are airline personnel.

So, it's little wonder more flights are departing with every seat filled and airport parking lots are packed to capacity. At prices like that, who wants to stay home rather than spend the weekend someplace else?

Nor is it surprising that more flights are being scheduled to depart during peak periods, which virtually ensures backups and delays. When there is little margin left for delay, delays will devastate schedules. Clearly, the traffic situation is worse in selected bottleneck airports, but those difficulties ripple throughout the entire system.

It's like trying to cram all those cars through our parkway tunnels twice a day.

The simple economic truth is air travel has become a commodity rather than a convenience or comfort. No passenger wants to pay a penny more than absolutely necessary. Two decades of intense competition have led air carriers to believe the only way to make money from aircraft that are expensive to maintain and fly is to pack the planes and schedule them for as many departures as the demand, crew staffing and airport capacity will bear.

And how about the accumulated cost in time, alternative arrangements, missed meetings and stomach acid that passengers assume every day because that plane scheduled to leave at 5 p.m. didn't get off the ground until 9:45?

Could it be easier and more profitable for airlines to inconvenience passengers than it is for them to schedule and fly their planes on a timely basis?

If airlines put as much effort into sustaining timely flight schedules as they are managing their seat yields, there'd be much less anxiety and rage in airports.

If airport infrastructure and air traffic control systems were coordinated and modernized, there's no doubt the flow of passengers could be more smoothly channeled.

If passengers were prepared to pay fair and consistent fares on a first-come basis for flights that take off and land on a timely basis, with a degree of comfort, perhaps travel would be a less grueling endeavor. That trip might even cost less in the long run, not for the ticket perhaps but for all the other hidden and potential costs of travel.

Don't everyone agree at the same time.

Although the airlines have paid considerable lip service to issues such as passenger convenience and on-time performance, it's clear they have lost their ability -- and perhaps incentive -- to stick to the schedule.

Perhaps it is time for the federal government or the industry to create a regulatory authority to step back in and recalibrate everything.

Here's a simple proposal: if carriers were required to compensate passengers financially when their scheduled flights are egregiously late, we'd certainly see some quick and positive adjustments to an increasingly untenable situation. It might mean fewer flights and slightly higher prices, but at least planes might get there on time.

After all, when there's the will to do something, there's usually a way.