RULE COULD ALTER LAX HOLIDAY FLOW : FAA ORDER TO WIDEN GAP BETWEEN PLANES EXPECTED TO BACK UP FLIGHTS.

Byline: Steven J. Gorman Daily News Staff Writer

A new federal air safety rule could create substantial flight delays at Los Angeles International Airport next week as air travel picks up for the Labor Day holiday, industry officials said Thursday.

New flight separation standards imposed last week by the Federal Aviation Administration require private planes, commuter aircraft and small jets to fly farther behind jumbo jets and Boeing 757s.

Boeing 757s were involved in two fatal crashes of smaller planes - one in 1992 and one in 1993 - that apparently got caught in ``wake turbulence'' churned by the bigger aircraft.

Airline industry officials say the rule change may contribute to backups in the streams of planes landing at airports around the country, especially during bad weather or peak travel periods.

LAX and other large airports could be particularly hard hit because they have a large mix of commuter planes and bigger jetliners, said Bill Thomas, director of operations for the Air Transport Association, an industry trade group.

``It's going to seriously increase the delays at LAX,'' Thomas said. ``The holiday weekend push is going to be obviously higher than a normal weekend. We should know after Tuesday what the situation has done to L.A. The potential is there for significant delays for the traveling public.''

Commuter planes affected by the new FAA rule account for at least a third of the takeoffs and landings at Los Angeles International Airport, an airport spokesman said.

At least one major carrier, American Airlines, reported delays of up to an hour for flights bound for Los Angeles on Sunday as poor visibility at LAX combined with the new flight separation rules to keep planes waiting on the ground in Dallas and Chicago.

``We at American Airlines did have some delay problems associated with this on Sunday, in particular, of this week,'' said spokesman Tim Smith. ``The biggest concern centers around times of less-than-perfect weather, which do create the potential for some fairly sizable delays.''

United Airlines, the biggest carrier at LAX in terms of passengers and flights, had some minor slowdowns Sunday, but overall the airline has encountered few problems with the new FAA rule, said spokeswoman Mary Jo Holland.

``The FAA set a new rule, but we also experienced a weather condition,'' she said. ``And it was obvious that there was a little bit more of a delay (Sunday), but nothing drastic.''

An independent study commissioned by the FAA concluded that the new flight separation rule would lead to a 72 percent increase in aircraft delays at LAX during good weather.

FAA spokesman Mitch Barker said the agency disagreed with that finding, but he did not elaborate.

The Labor Day weekend traditionally marks the end of the summertime travel season. Airlines and travel agencies are warning customers to brace for tight parking, long lines and other hassles associated with a security alert in effect since the Unabomber threat last year.

Travelers are advised to bring a photo ID and get to the airport 90 minutes to two hours before departure for domestic flights and three hours ahead of time for international flights, said Suzanne Dupree, an agent with the Los Angeles Flight & Travel Center.

``Parking is probably going to be fairly chaotic,'' Dupree said. ``What I would do, if I absolutely had to travel during this holiday weekend, I would take a shuttle . . . if it's humanly possible.

``And be prepared to have your luggage rifled through at random,'' she added.

Dupree said recent experiences of her customers indicated that security at LAX has been heightened since the TWA Flight 800 explosion and the bombing at Olympic Centennial Park in Atlanta.

Airport spokesman Tom Winfrey said the security alert has been unchanged at LAX since the Unabomber threatened last year to bomb a commercial airliner unless his manifesto was published in a major newspaper.

Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski has pleaded not guilty to charges that he sent explosive devices through the mail.

Winfrey also said he anticipated that parking should be adequate at the airport and nearby garage facilities.

Barker said the FAA was analyzing airline delay figures from around the country and planned to release a national report in about two weeks.

Under the new FAA rule, more than 50 types of aircraft, including several kinds of business jets and smaller commercial planes, were moved into a category of ``small planes'' that must now trail B-757s by at least 5 nautical miles and wide-body jets by 6 nautical miles, Barker said.

The previous separation standards had been set at 4 and 5 miles, respectively.

ATA officials contend that the new FAA rule is unnecessary, noting that both wake-turbulence accidents that led to the change involved smaller planes flying closer than 3 miles behind a Boeing 757.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1) Under a new FAA safety rule, small planes wil l be required to trail farther behind jets in an effort to reduce ``wake turbulence'' accidents.

David Crane/Daily News

(2) Pre-holiday travelers pack the American Airlines terminal at LAX in an effort to beat the Labor Day rush.

Tom Mendoza/Daily News