USA Today study: Without the New York area, delays are down

An airport-by-airport study of airline on-time performance statistics conducted by USA Today found that the overall national figures for arrival delays – showing 2007 to be the worst year ever – are somewhat misleading. Instead, a huge surge in delays at the three New York area airports – LaGuardia, JFK and Newark – has swamped the national numbers, hiding the fact that on-time performance has actually improved for anyone who’s not flying into, out of or through LGA, JFK or EWR. The newspaper said that from January through August, delays at the nation’s 31 largest airports other than the three around New York were actually down eight percent compared to the same period a year earlier. But the three New York airports showed a 23 percent surge in late arrivals, driving up the delays numbers for the nation as a whole by 3.7 percent. “It’s as if there are now two different aviation systems in the USA,” the newspaper said. “In New York, there are too many scheduled flights and hemmed-in airports that can’t expand. But at other major airports, new runways, incremental improvements in air-traffic procedures and airlines’ moves to improve efficiency have begun to make a measurable difference for travelers.” The FAA has unveiled a plan to overhaul traffic patterns for aircraft in the New York area, which it said should lead to a 20 percent improvement in performance over the next few years. It has also started talks with airlines serving JFK to discuss whether they can voluntarily revise their schedules there to improve delays, or whether the government should step in and limit JFK flight operations to 80 an hour – a proposal that has drawn sharp opposition from airlines and civic officials.