It seems like I am spending half of my time lately sitting on runways either trying to leave or return to LaGuardia Airport. Since I am a frequent flyer who travels almost every week, the recent experiences with flight delays has been excruciating. Most travelers are frustrated and many are considering avoiding LaGuardia by flying into Newark. Since Newark has already taken significant amounts of business from LaGuardia over the past decade, there must be an immediate resolution to the gridlock problem.

Flight delays and cancellations reached massive proportions at LaGuardia during September and have not abated since. Fifty-seven percent of the flights at LaGuardia have either been canceled or delayed during this period according to a recent release from the U.S. Department of Transportation. These actions have caused backups, delays, and cancellations at other airports through America.

The problem has been caused by airline deregulation, which has significantly increased the number of regional airlines. The assumptions in a 1996 Department of Transportation report was that, "The expansion of low-cost and low-fare service would have a profound effect on efficiency, competition, consumers, and industry structure." Additionally the report stated, "in cities where low-cost carriers do not compete, fare premiums are high and increasing." Now there is a problem of congestion and capacity that has overwhelmed the system.

No longer is there a fear in the heart of the travelers, but there is the worry that there could be collisions on the runways. A few nights ago after being grounded in Philadelphia for two hours, the plane was cleared for take-off. After several slow downs in air space, we finally landed at LaGuardia only to find that there was no available gate. For one hour and 20 minutes the plane, along with numerous others, traveled up and around one runway to another until a gate finally opened. This is obviously an intolerable situation, and was so frustrating to the airline personnel that they were begging passengers to write the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Port Authority. When I finally dragged my tired body from the plane at 10:40 p.m. (which was originally scheduled to land at 7:05 p.m.), it was clear to me that something needs to be done. This is an urgent crisis.

During the Thanksgiving and possibly the Christmas holidays the FAA has proposed a lottery that limits the number of flights into LaGuardia particularly at peak times. This is at best a temporary solution and does not address the airline propensity to build gridlock into the system by scheduling more and more "rush-hour" flights. This creates pressing problems in the early morning and late afternoon to early evening flights. Once the back-up of air traffic begins in the mornings, it exacerbates the already complex situation for the rest of the day.

Some experts have suggested higher user fees for landing. Of course these costs would be passed along to the consumers. With airlines prices already at skyrocketing levels, this is probably not the most tenable solution. It could discourage travel during the peak periods, and in some cases add additional cost if travelers need to leave a day earlier and pay unnecessary hotel costs. Airlines could also choose to divert more traffic to some of the surrounding airports, Newark being the most likely; which would severely impact the economic stability at LaGuardia.