New flight limits have limited impact on airport delays

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rolled out new tactics this past year that were meant to improve the operation of airports in the metropolitan New York area, but the measures, such as flight limits, have helped only at certain times of the day. In fact, delays are reported to be worse at LaGuardia and Newark Liberty airports.

The agency and industry experts are saying that the weather has had a lot to do with delays, in that conditions have been stormier than normal this year.

The FAA’s acting administrator commented early in the week that although the new tactics have helped smooth out operations at Kennedy – and have helped Newark Liberty under some circumstances – they have not improved conditions at LaGuardia, where traffic is still too heavy.

“That airport can’t handle 81 operations an hour,” noted Robert A. Sturgell, the acting administrator of the FAA, in reference to the limits imposed on LaGuardia for the numbers of landings and take-offs each hour. “It has never handled 81,” he added, indicating that additional reductions would be necessary.

For the first six months of 2008, FAA data shows LaGuardia to have a rate of 164 delays of 15 minutes or more for each one thousand landings or takeoffs. This statistic is up from 105 for the same period in 2007, meaning an increase in delays of more than 50 percent in a year.

During the same period, JFK’s performance improved slightly. The number of delays per one thousand landings and take-offs decreased from 75 to 73. Newark’s performance worsened, with an increase in delays from 125 to 152.

www.faa.gov