New Arrival, Departure System Causing Delays At LAX

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A new arrivals and departure procedures at Los Angeles International Airport are causing delays Monday morning.

Some arriving flights are now running more than an hour late after the airport had to deliberately slow down its system due to the new, satellite-based arrival and departure tracking.

The NextGen program is being added in dozens of metropolitan or "Metroplex" areas around the country, and uses satellite navigation to replace older, conventional systems, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. More than 60 new arrival and departure procedures were implemented last Thursday as part of the Southern California Metroplex project.

The Southern California Metroplex project includes Bob Hope, Hawthorne Municipal, LAX, Long Beach, Ontario International, Oxnard, Palm Springs International, San Diego International, Santa Monica Municipal, John Wayne-Orange County and Van Nuys airports.

"The procedures are new to both pilots and air traffic controllers," the FAA said in a statement. "As a result, we deliberately slowed down the system to ensure the procedures are working properly and to allow pilots and controllers to become accustomed to using them. We have taken similar initiatives when we implemented other Metroplex projects. We will return to normal operations as soon as possible.

"We are gradually increasing the LAX arrival and departure rates as everyone gets more used to the system. We increased the rates this morning, and will do so again later in the week. This will reduce delays as we get the system toward normal operations."

 (© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)