Equipment Fix Ends Delays at Kennedy

By John Valenti, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

Feb. 18–An earlier “equipment outage” involving the Instrument Landing System for Runway 22 L at Kennedy Airport has been fixed Monday — and delays which had been running up to 45 minutes have all but disappeared, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The system, which is responsible for helping pilots determine the “glide slope’ — the angle of descent — for aircraft making instrument approaches, a tool especially critical on a bad-weather day like Monday, had broken down at about 7:10 a.m., FAA spokeswoman Holly Baker said. It took three hours to get the system repaired.

But though the situation is returning to normal at Kennedy, the FAA is reporting major weather-related delays at LaGuardia and Newark-Liberty.

Those delays are running a little more than two hours and on arriving flights at LaGuardia — and almost two hours on arrivals at Newark. The delays are all attributable to fog and low cloud ceilings, Baker said.

Outbound flights from Newark are being delayed up to 30 minutes due to excessive air traffic, heavy volume and gate-hold and taxi delays. Those delays are increasing.

There are no reported delays at Long Island-MacArthur.

The FAA is advising all customer to contact their air carriers regarding potential delays.

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