The Transportation Department inspector general says the FAA is falling short in completing the agency's mandates to ease congestion in the New York area, just as passengers in the region brace for a major reconstruction project that will close the longest runway at Kennedy Airport for about three months beginning in March.
The FAA acknowledges it has completed only 30 of the 77 initiatives an advisory group identified two years ago to cut down on air traffic delays in New York airspace.
But the inspector general said in a report that the region has seen benefits from only five of those changes, because most of the initiatives "are not being used or are used infrequently."
The inspector general recommended that the FAA reassess the initiatives the agency has already completed, and evaluate the remaining proposals, to "determine what, if any, benefits they provide and whether they should be continued." The FAA also should resolve controller and airline opposition to the initiatives, the inspector general said.
The FAA agreed.
The inspector general said it recognized that some of the task force proposals were impractical, such as tunneling under a runway safety area or rerouting an access road at LaGuardia Airport.
Other proposals, such as using more advanced air traffic control technology, will simply have to wait until such technology is in place, the inspector general noted.
Still, the FAA killed some proposals because of resistance from airlines, the inspector general said.
Airlines opposed an initiative to reroute flights from the Caribbean to Newark because of added mileage and increased operating costs. The carriers also complained that another proposal to reduce spacing between aircraft in a holding pattern added mileage and increased fuel costs.
Another proposal, intended to spread delays to other Northeastern airports, was never implemented because of airline concerns that resulting delays would be unevenly distributed.
Controllers oppose other initiatives intended to improve arrival and departure operations, such as allowing simultaneous or dual approaches at Kennedy and Newark airports, because of perceived safety factors, workload requirements and insufficient benefits, the inspector general said.
The bottom line, the inspector general said, is that "delays and congestion in the New York area have only minimally been reduced."
That’s not exactly what airline executives want to hear as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey gears up for what some officials have been likening to open-heart surgery on Kennedy’s biggest runway, which handles about 30% of the airport’s annual operations and half its departures.
"Taking out one of the most important runways in North America — it’s a big deal," JetBlue CEO David Barger told analysts last month during the airline’s quarterly conference call.
The $376.3 million project will widen the runway surface from 150 feet to 200 feet, to accommodate new aircraft like the Airbus A380. Workers will also remove six inches of the existing runway surface and replace it with 18 inches of more durable concrete. The port authority also will install new runway lighting and electrical systems.
The reconstruction project will require enough cement to pave every National Football League field to a two-foot depth, and enough asphalt to equal the weight of six Titanics.
The runway, which measures 14,572 feet in length, or about 2.75 miles, was last "rehabilitated" in 1993, using conventional asphalt paving methods, and interim repairs were performed in 2004, as accelerated deterioration occurred due to increased aircraft traffic.
But those repairs are nothing compared with what’s being planned for spring 2010, and officials from the port authority, FAA and airlines say they are getting ready for the disruption.
Through "extensive planning" with the FAA and the airlines, the port authority said it expected to minimize the impact on airport operations during the 120 days that the runway will be closed for construction.
Airlines are adjusting schedules and operations to mitigate delays, and the airport’s three remaining runways will be used to their full capabilities, the authority said.
There have been scant details released by individual airlines, but Barger told analysts that JetBlue would operate something akin to a winter schedule during the main construction period, cutting back daily flights by about 13%.
"We will probably be something like 155 trips per day as we get into that runway construction time frame," he said.
"It’s a really important runway, and there will be challenges," Barger said. "We will end up with thunderstorms when you are not expecting it, or wind configurations. But it’s 100 days; take the pain and get it done the right way and then get into the summer flying."
