Expanding New York Airports Essential to Economic Future

New York, New York- Regional Plan Association (RPA), working alongside experts, stakeholders and members of the Better Airports Alliance, today released a comprehensive report and recommendations on increasing the New York region's overall airport capacity and efficiency over the next generation. Entitled "Upgrading to World Class: The Future of the Regions Airports," the report is the result of a two-year long collaborative planning and research effort. Most notably, the report calls for the expeditious implementation of NextGen technologies to transform the nation's air traffic control system and immediate planning for the eventual expansion and/or reconfiguration of John F. Kennedy International and Newark Liberty International airports.

The RPA report will be the centerpiece for discussion at a full-day conference being held today, hosted by RPA and the Better Airports Alliance at JP Morgan Chase. The conference, also entitled "Upgrading to World Class: The Future of the New York Region's Airports," will bring together hundreds of top business, civic, philanthropic, media and government leaders from across the metropolitan region and nation to discuss the report findings.

According to the report, passenger volumes in the New York region are expected to grow from 104 million passengers in 2010 to 150 million passengers by the 2030s, fueled by global economic expansion, the continuing attraction of the New York region for visitors, and growth in the region's population. However, flight delays exceeding those of other cities and lack of airport capacity already cost the region billions of dollars per year in lost wages and business income. By 2030, these losses could reach as many as 125,000 jobs, $6 billion in wages, and $16 billion in business sales each year.

To insure that New York maintains a world-class aviation system, RPA set the dual objectives of (1) meeting a projected demand of 150 million passengers by 2030 and (2) reducing average delays from 20 minutes to the national norm of 10 minutes. To meet this need, the region will need to expand capacity by 78 additional peak hour flights, to 314 hourly flights, up from 236 flights today.

RPA studied major suggestions for airport improvements and concluded that while NextGen technologies can reduce delay and expand airport capacity for the next 5-10 years, airport expansion will be necessary to keep pace with growing demand. Thus, RPA presents four alternative configurations to meet basic airspace and capacity criteria at Kennedy Airport, each with advantages and disadvantages.

RPA calls for further study on each and calls on the Port Authority to consider each alternative along with the local community and a formal environmental impact process in the coming years. At Newark Airport, RPA contends that one configuration stands out - requiring the redesign and relocations of one or more of the three terminals within the airport footprint. The RPA concluded that options to expand LaGuardia Airport were neither necessary nor feasible and did not recommend expansion at LaGuardia.

RPA also reviewed other actions, including use of outlying airports like Stewart and MacArthur, implementation of higher speed inter-city rail service and regulatory changes, but concluded that while helpful, these alone cannot offer enough capacity gains to meet future growth.

Robert D. Yaro, President of the Regional Plan Association, stated: "The crucial link between air travel and economic prosperity is threatened by a lack of adequate capacity in our aviation system. We need to start planning now for future growth. The cost of building airport capacity, while significant, must be weighed against the even greater toll on the region's economy if we do nothing."