Expect Delays: An Analysis of Air Travel Trends in the United States (The Brookings Institution)
http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2009/1008_air_travel_tomer_puentes.aspx
“Released in October 2009, this report by Robert Puentes and Adie Tomer looks at national and metropolitan levels of commercial air patterns between 1990 and 2009 and finds that half of the country’s flights are routes of less than 500 miles and that the 26 largest metropolitan airline hubs continue to have the lion’s share of flight delays. The report notes that despite a bit of flight time recovery during the recent economic crisis, ‘the return of economic growth will resume the boost in travelers, a concomitant decline in on-time performance, and the hyper-concentration of U.S. air travel within major metropolitan areas’.” [Source: The Scout Report, 13-11-09]