Newark, JFK Carriers Facing Flight Limits

By BLOOMBERG NEWS

WASHINGTON Airlines may have to limit flights at the New York area’s Kennedy and Newark airports starting in March to curb delays, U.S. regulators said Monday.

Carriers must submit March-to-November schedules by Oct. 11 so the Federal Aviation Administration can consider limiting flights or moving them out of peak periods, the agency said in the Federal Register in Washington.

The notice comes after former FAA chief Marion Blakey said Sept. 11 that airlines should trim East Coast schedules or the government may enforce limits. A record low 72 percent of U.S. flights arrived on time this year through July. Liberty International Airport in Newark had the lowest rate of the 32 largest U.S. airports, at 57 percent, while New York’s John F. Kennedy International was third- worst at 59 percent.

"Keeping the status quo is not acceptable," said Steve Lott, a spokesman for the Montreal-based International Air Transport Association, which represents 240 carriers worldwide. "By reviewing schedules in advance, we hope this will help."

JetBlue Airways Corp., AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, Delta Air Lines Inc., British Airways Plc and UAL Corp.’s United Airlines carried the most passengers at JFK for the year that ended in July, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Continental Airlines Inc., American, United, JetBlue and Delta carried the most at Newark, according to the authority.

David Messing a spokesman for Continental, declined to comment on the FAA’s plan. "I don’t want to speculate on what the outcome may be," he said. The airline plans to offer about the same number of flights next year at Newark as it is offering this year, but it will continue to swap smaller planes for larger aircraft on certain routes to handle an anticipated increase in traffic, he said.

New York’s La Guardia Airport had the second-worst on-time rate this year through July, with 58.6 percent. Delays nationwide are at their worst since the government began keeping track in the current format in 1995.

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Staff Writer Richard Newman contributed to this article.

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