US airport delays worse despite new FAA flight limits

New measures to improve air traffic at New York airports that were instituted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) this year have helped in some cases, but not all. Delays at Newark and LaGuardia airports have actually worsened.

Agency representatives and aviation experts say that the weather this year, which has been stormier than normal, is one of the main reasons for the limited effectiveness of the new tactics.

The acting FAA administrator said during an interview early in the week that while the intervention of the agency had a positive impact at JFK Airport and helped alleviate congestion at Newark, they were not as successful at LaGuardia, which still was experience too much traffic.

“That airport can’t handle 81 operations an hour,” Robert A. Sturgell, the acting administrator of the FAA commented, when referring to the limits that had been set for landings and takeoffs at LaGuardia. “It has never handled 81,” he added, indicating that further reductions in traffic would be necessary.

From January through June of this year, 164 delays of at least 15 minutes per thousand take-offs or landings were recorded at LaGuardia. That’s up from 105 for the same months last year, meaning an increase in air traffic delays of more than 50 per cent in one year.

The performance at JFK Airport improved slightly during the same period this year. Delays per thousand take-offs and landings decreased from 75 to 73. Newark’s performance worsened, with delays having increased from 125 to 152, per thousand take-offs or landings.

www.faa.gov