Bad marks for area airports

If you are flying into or out of LaGuardia (LGA) or John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport during the holiday season, be prepared to be late, according to two separate reports issued by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson.
LaGuardia ranked last amongst the 32 major airports in on time arrivals for October averaging only 59.6 percent of the flights on time, while JFK fared only marginally better, ranking 27th out of 32 with 70.7 percent of their arrivals on time, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. In addition, LaGuardia ranked 30th out of 32 in on-time departures with 74.9 percent and JFK 24th with 77.9 percent of the flights taking off on time.
Those statistics came one day after Thompson’s report said that the increase in flight delays at the airports was having a negative impact on the city’s competitive edge as well as increasing pollution in nearby neighborhoods.
“Unless it is reversed, the much larger decline in on-time performance in New York than elsewhere will harm the city’s economy,” Thompson said. “It could discourage employers from locating new jobs and facilities in New York and encourage some firms to relocate jobs elsewhere.”
Thompson’s report, “Grounded: The Impact of Mounting Flight Delays on New York City’s Economy & Environment,” found that in the first three quarters of 2007, arrival rates at LaGuardia, JFK and Newark International Airports were 13 percent below the national average - up eight points since 2003.
In addition, the report found that an old air traffic control system, poor management by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of efforts to modernize the system and airlines’ over-scheduling of flights during peak hours, were some of the main factors that contributed to the delays.
Meanwhile, the report also recommended that state adopt legislation introduced by New York State Senator John Sabini and Assemblymember Jeffrion Aubry requiring the State Department of Environmental Conservation to install air-monitoring equipment within one mile of LaGuardia and JFK.
“We know areas near airports have high indices of respiratory disease,” Sabini said, noting that idling planes, cars used to ferry the planes on the tarmac, airport transfer vehicles and other mass transit air cargo vehicles near the airport contribute to the deterioration in air quality around the airports.
“We think people are entitled to know what the air is like near our airports if people are compelled to live near them,” Sabini said.