By Philip Newman
LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy and Newark airports have the worst delays in the country, a new study found.
LGA, JFK and Newark come in 29th, 28th and 24th, respectively, among the nation’s 29 biggest airports for on-time flight arrivals.
Only 65 percent of flights arrive on time at LaGuardia, the only airport to score below 70 percent.
A survey by the Global Gateway Alliance, an air travel advocacy agency, said that around 315,000 flights arrive at the three New York area airports annually with roughly one in four delayed.
“Collectively the biggest cause of delays is the National Aviation System, accounting for more than 40 percent of delays at JFK and LaGuardia,” the Alliance said. “NAS refers to that national air space, meaning this kind of delay is attributable to congestion in the skies.”
The study found the next cause of delays is “late arriving aircraft,” when a previous flight is late and the effect ripples across other arrivals or takeoffs at the airport, usually because of heavy air traffic, the Global Gateway Alliance said.
“These late arrivals, with a knock-on effect, are responsible for roughly a third of all delays at the region’s airports,” Alliance said.
The survey found maintenance problems, crew issues and baggage loading are the third largest cause of delays, accounting for between one fifth and a quarter of all delays.
“More minor causes of delays are extreme weather and security setbacks, which combined, represent less than 5 percent of all delays,” Alliance found.
Things are not improving, the survey concluded.
“Not only are delays continuing, but the rate at which they affect flights has not improved over the years either,” the survey said, “At LaGuardia, for example, the rate of delays increased from 19 percent to in 2012 to 28 percent in 2015. Similarly at JFK the rate of delays has increased by seven percentage points, rising from 18 percent in 2012 to 25 percent in 2015.”
Global Gateway called for complete installation at New York City area airports of NextGen satellite-based technology, although some elements of the system are in operation now.
New York has the most crowded air space in the country.
“By continuing and expediting Port Authority efforts to replace outdated terminals and open additional gates and most important, extend runways, the airports could better accommodate ore concurrent flight operations,” the agency said.
The group also recommended setting up an independent air traffic control office for the region, appointing a New York airport delay council to monitor on-time performance and encouraging the FAA to review its slot rules.
