John F. Kennedy International Airport's congestion problem is touching off a dispute between the FAA, the Port Authority, and city officials over how to improve service for air travelers.
Port Authority officials will be in Washington today to propose their solutions to airline companies and legislators, and to encourage Congress to fund them.
Yesterday, the Port Authority released a series of recommendations for reducing the record number of delayed flights at JFK, one of the nation's busiest airports. Under their plan, the airport would invest more than $1 billion in installing new technology and more taxiways, which would allow planes to take off more quickly and fly closer together.
The Port Authority says these measures would reduce the number of delays. Only 72% of flights at JFK, Newark, and La Guardia arrived on time this year, the lowest percentage ever recorded by the FAA.
The plan is a far cry from the FAA's proposal last month, which would cap the number of flights at the airport and raise ticket prices to reduce demand. The Port Authority yesterday criticized the FAA's recommendations, saying they would only push passengers to other airports, creating the same problems elsewhere.
"The FAA's action would simply put a 'No Vacancy' sign up at one of the nation's busiest airports and then walk away from the problem," the Port Authority's executive director, Anthony Shorris, said. Chairman Anthony Coscia said "real solutions" to the problem must involve meeting higher demand rather than trying to reduce it.
Senator Schumer also criticized the federal government's proposals, saying JFK is functioning below capacity due to FAA mismanagement and needed new technology and more airport workers to combat delays. "Reducing flights and congestion pricing should be the last resort, not the first step," Mr. Schumer said.
Mayor Bloomberg has said that he would consider supporting congestion pricing for flights, as the FAA proposes, an idea that bears similarities to his congestion pricing plan for traffic entering the city. "We have to do something," he said last month, "this city desperately needs the ability for people to fly in and out."
