
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 1, 1993                   TAG: 9307010337
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Newsday
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CLINTON'S MAY HAIRCUT CAUSED NO FLIGHT DELAYS

The story was that planes were kept circling as President Clinton had his hair clipped on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport.

The runway haircut by Beverly Hills stylist Cristophe became such a metaphor for perceived White House arrogance that the president himself apologized for the reported flight delays.

But the reports were wrong.

According to Federal Aviation Administration records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the May 18 haircut caused no significant delays of regularly scheduled passenger flights - no circling planes, no traffic jams on the runways.

Commuter airlines that fly routes reportedly affected by the president's haircut confirmed they have no record of delays that day.

The FAA records, generated by the regional Air Route Traffic Control Center, show that an unscheduled air taxi flight had the only delay attributed to the closure of two runways for an hour in anticipation of Air Force One's departure. The air taxi took off 17 minutes after leaving the gate - two minutes late, by FAA accounting.

"If you understand the air traffic system, you'd find that statement [that planes were circling] ludicrous," said Fred O'Donnell, an FAA spokesman at the agency's Western Pacific regional office, which responded to Newsday's May 21 request under the Freedom of Information law.

O'Donnell said that although two runways were closed, traffic was light that afternoon and arriving flights simply were diverted to the two other runways. "It did not cause any problems," he said.

However, an air traffic controllers' union official said the runway closings did increase the workload in the control centers.

O'Donnell said the FAA records an arrival delay if controllers take any action to slow traffic approaching the airport, such as having pilots circle the airport. A departure delay is recorded whenever it takes an aircraft more than 15 minutes to take off after having pushed off from the gate.

Asked about the FAA records Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers said, "It's certainly consistent with what we believed at the time." Myers said the White House checked with the airport control tower when accounts of delays surfaced and was told no flights were delayed.

by CNB