Commuting Gets Off the Ground

Today’s domestic air travel system is taxed to the breaking point. In 2001, 570 million people flew on commercial airlines, and U.S. aviation officials expect domestic airline traffic to double by 2010. That’s more people than the system can handle.

Many airports already can’t handle the volume of air travel that occurs on their runways. At least two dozen of the major hub airports are classified as “seriously congested.” That means they’re at the limit of their capacity for takeoffs and landings during the mo.....