Delais : Aux USA, on attaque le problème à la racine !

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Airlines that operate chronically delayed flights could face stiff fines in the coming weeks as the government concludes a six-month investigation into potentially deceptive business practices.

The Transportation Department in May began investigating flights that are at least 15 minutes late more than 70 percent of the time, and so far has identified 26 that meet those criteria, an agency spokesman said Tuesday.

If any of those 26 flights also were delayed in the most recent quarter being reviewed, the responsible airlines will face quot;significant financial penalties," agency spokesman Brian Turmail said. Results of the investigation are expected within weeks.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters repeated the government's desire for airlines to voluntarily change their summer 2008 flight schedules in order to alleviate record delays at JFK and other airports, but also reiterated that schedule reduction mandates remain an option.

Peters said she has "high hopes for market-based incentives," including raising landing fees for airlines during peak periods, to help reduce record delays at JFK and elsewhere.

But airlines say that so-called "congestion pricing" approach would simply result in higher fares and pledged to challenge mandates for it, ormandated schedule cuts, in court or legislatively.