"Newark Airport getting cramped"

Thursday, June 24, 2004

Newark Airport getting cramped 
BY RON MARSICO 
The Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger


Delays at Newark Liberty International Airport will worsen unless new
ways are found to fly more passengers into and out of the already
congested regional hub, according to a federal report released
yesterday. 

According to the Federal Aviation Administration report, which charts
airline passenger projections over the next 20 years, Newark Liberty is
one of five major airports in the nation that faces limits on increasing
flights as the post-9/11 travel downturn eases. 

A major obstacle at Newark is a shortage of available land around the
airport, a problem that makes it impossible to construct a new, fourth
runway, officials said. 

"We've got a real tough situation in the New York metropolitan area and
at Newark Liberty in particular," FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said
in a telephone interview. "You're going to have terrific pressures on
Newark -- and the region as a whole -- to increase capacity." 

Newark Liberty, which served 29.4 million passengers last year, faces
projected increases of 37 percent by 2013 and 56 percent by 2020, when
45 million passengers are expected to pass through, Blakey said. The FAA
is redesigning the region's airspace to enable more planes to safely
operate at peak periods, she said. 

Officials with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which
operates Newark Liberty, said the best way to improve capacity is to
increase the number of passengers per flight. Currently, roughly 70
passengers are on an average flight, a number officials eventually want
to see increased to 105. 

"(Increasing capacity) doesn't come from more planes, it comes from
bigger planes," said William DeCota, the Port Authority's aviation
director, who said the airport's options are limited because of its
relatively small acreage. "Any possibility of another runway? No." 

Newark Airport can accommodate the large Boeing 777s, but it will not be
able to handle the behemoth Airbus A380, which seats more than 550
people and needs much longer runways than are available at Newark,
DeCota said. 

The FAA's report comes as Newark tries to recover from a dismal travel
year in 2003, when it placed dead last among the nation's largest
airports for on-time arrivals and near the bottom for on-time
departures, according to federal aviation statistics. 

Officials blamed most of the delays on weather, but they said the
problems were exacerbated by the region's congested airspace and a major
runway resurfacing project in September. 

After suffering through more than his share of delays and cancellations,
Lee Barrett, 26, of Hoboken, a computer consultant who used to travel
from Newark to Washington, D.C., twice a week for his job, finally gave
up on flying on return trips and decided to take the train instead. 

"I don't know why they didn't go with bigger planes," Barrett said.
"They would pin everything on the weather. It literally drove me crazy."


Rahsaan Johnson, spokesman for Continental, said the airline's top
priority is offering flights when people want to travel. 

"We agree that capacity issues need to be addressed, but we don't think
limiting customer choices is the way to do it," he said. "There are
dozens of markets linked with Newark Airport that don't have sufficient
demand to justify larger airplanes but whose passengers contribute to
the New Jersey economy every time they pass through Newark Airport." 

The other four airports facing passenger capacity problems are New
York's LaGuardia, Atlanta's Hartfield-Jackson International, Chicago's
O'Hare International and Philadelphia International. Fifteen airports,
including New York's John F. Kennedy International, are projected to
need increased capacity by 2013. 

"Growth trends will continue to affect many of the same metropolitan
areas that historically have had a need for additional capacity," the
FAA report said. "This study indicates the predominant trend over the
next two decades largely will be the expansion of existing airports to
meet forecast demand." 

Other possible ways to increase capacity include moving some flights
from peak to off-peak hours, expanding terminals, adding new runways and
making other airfield improvements, said Blakey, the FAA administrator. 

In the Southwest, where growth in newer metropolitan areas has
mushroomed, additional airports may be necessary, the report said. 

In the New York region, Blakey said, the Port Authority "is going to
have to aggressively undertake other regional planning" efforts to help
solve the problem but pledged the FAA would provide assistance. 

"We need to be sitting at the table right now," she said. "Yesterday is
too late."


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