Expand Airspace Now, PA Says; Agency Gives Ways to Cut Flight Delays

By TOM DAVIS, STAFF WRITER

Expanding the region’s airspace to allow the "maximum possible traffic" would reduce congestion at Newark Liberty International and other area airports that routinely have the most flight delays in the country, according to a Port Authority report.

Improvements to runways and taxiways to move planes more efficiently were also suggested, as was limiting the time jets spend on the tarmac.

The 70-page report was released by the agency’s Flight Delay Task Force, which comprises local, state and federal officials as well as prominent business executives.

They identified nearly 100 flight-reduction initiatives and recommendations that would "improve the travel experience for passengers in the event of a delay."

"Prudence suggests the responsible stakeholders in the aviation system should implement them [the recommendations] as soon as possible," the report said.

Port Authority Chairman Anthony Coscia called on the Federal Aviation Administration to seriously consider expanding capacity since nearly 41 percent of New York-area flights are delayed on a day-to-day basis among the highest rates in the country.

But Coscia said delays also could be reduced if the airlines improved flight scheduling, and if the federal government permanently reopened military airspace to commercial flights.

He said the FAA also needs to update the 40-year-old technology that helps regulate flight travel and scheduling.

"We believe there are three main principles to improving the flight delay problem: expanding capacity, better management of the capacity we have now and better customer service," Coscia said.

The FAA declined to comment, though the agency recently approved plans to expand jet routes over the Northeast particularly in northern Bergen County to reduce delays and get more planes in the sky.

But the "record of decision" signed by the FAA in September has angered local officials some of whom have collected money for a legal fund and plan to fight the agency in court to stop the airspace redesign.

Montvale Mayor George Zeller said the Port Authority’s findings seem to endorse the FAA’s "ridiculous" plans, which officials fear will destroy the quality of life in some of the state’s more unspoiled communities.

If the Port Authority wants to reduce flight delays, Zeller said, "they shouldn’t be adding more flights they should be reducing flights.

"The whole thing is contrived by the industry," he said.

"The whole thing is all about politics. They don’t care about the public."

Air traffic controllers, meanwhile, said any proposal to expand air routes could cause staffing problems because there is a "critical shortage" of controllers in the New York region.

"We do not have enough controllers to handle today’s air routes, let alone any additional routes," said Doug Church, spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, however, said in a prepared statement that the Port Authority task force "is doing the right thing" by making suggestions that could force the federal government and the airlines to take action.

"For this plan to succeed, the Bush administration must make sure airlines improve customer service and schedule flights more realistically," Lautenberg said. "I will do my part to make sure that happens."

The report said rearranging and adding to the available routes would allow more planes to use the airspace without interfering with one another and causing delays.

"For example, offering dedicated space for heavily traveled routes like the one from the New York metropolitan area to Washington, D.C., could make room for other flights to use the rest of the routes in the airspace," the report said.

But in the event of a flight delay, the airlines and transportation officials could do more to provide relief for the weary traveler.

"For example, if customers had delay monitoring systems available to them in their hotels, they could wait out delays in the comfort of their rooms instead of at busy airport terminals, and leave only when they know their flight will be taking off," the report said.

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Changes proposed

Some of the Port Authority’s recommendations for reducing delays at Newark Liberty International Airport and other airports in the region:

* Expand the region’s airspace to allow the "maximum possible traffic."

* Improve runways and taxiways so planes can move more efficiently.

* Limit the amount of time that departing and arriving planes spend on the tarmac.

* Improve airline flight scheduling.

* Permanently open military airspace to commercial flights.

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E-mail: davist@northjersey.com

(c) 2007 Record, The; Bergen County, N.J.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.