DOT plan will mean big schedule changes at JFK starting in March

Look for changes in airline schedules at New York’s Kennedy Airport starting this spring. After months of meetings and deliberations with airport, airline and consumer representatives, the Transportation Department has come out with its plan for reducing congestion at JFK – and it includes capping flight operations at 82 to 83 per hour during peak periods. Currently, up to 100 flights per hour are scheduled during some times of the day at JFK. However, airlines will be able to shift their flights to times of the day when the airport has unused capacity, so that overall, the plan could permit an additional 50 flights per day compared with last summer’s JFK schedules – “just more reasonably spaced,” DOT said -- assuming carriers are willing to make the necessary schedule adjustments. The schedule caps at JFK will start March 15, 2008 and will continue through 2009.

DOT also told the FAA to start negotiations for setting similar hourly caps on flight operations at Newark International Airport, “so that flights aren’t simply shifted there, erasing gains made at JFK.” The agency said it is instituting new routing patterns at Newark and Philadelphia International that “will allow aircraft to fan out after takeoff and provide more options for aircraft waiting to depart.” New satellite-based navigation techniques at New York and Philadelphia should also lead to improved operations during bad weather, and will let shorter flights move into lower altitudes, freeing up air space at higher altitudes for long-haul planes, DOT said.

The Transportation Department did not adopt some other controversial measures it had considered for JFK, including “congestion pricing,” which would require airlines to pay higher fees for operating flights at peak periods; and slot auctions, which would let incumbent airlines sell their takeoff and landing rights for whatever price the market would bear. The Air Transport Association and its member airlines had fought against the adoption of hourly flight limits, but sounded a conciliatory note in response to the DOT plan. “Flight caps are undesirable for air travelers but, under existing circumstances, airlines have little choice but to live with caps as a temporary measure,” ATA said.

In addition, DOT Secretary Mary Peters said that the agency will appoint an aviation “czar” to supervise the implementation of these plans, and to oversee all airspace issues and initiatives in the busy New York region. “These new measures will cut delays, protect consumer choice, support New York’s economy, and allow for new flights as we bring new capacity online,” Peters said.