After talk of flight caps to help ease airport congestion that leave many travelers very irritable, the U.S Department of Transportation announced another policy to help ease airport woes The DOT will let airports charge airlines based on the time of day and volume of traffic their planes are landing in Previously, aircraft was only charged based on plane weight The hope, per the USDOT , is that "airports would be able to spread traffic more evenly throughout the day - allowing them to serve more passengers, reduce delays, and help avoid the need for sustained federal government intervention.