Port Authority Reconstructing JFK Runway To Reduce Delays

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is working with the Federal Aviation Administration on a reconstruction project at John F. Kennedy International Airport that would take advantage of a required maintenance job to reduce airport delays.

PANYNJ will provide $292.4 million and FAA will provide $83.9 million, $15 million of which is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, for the $376.3 million project.

The project, planned since November 2007, includes the widening of the Bay Runway from 150 to 200 feet and the addition of high-speed taxiways and exits and holding pads along the runway. The enhancements are part of a regular maintenance routine, required every five to 10 years. The Port Authority decided that, since "we have to work on it, let's take this opportunity and bring this thing to the best that it can be," said executive communications specialist John Kelly.

The additional holding pads and the extended runway will ease flight delays caused by weather conditions, as flights going to destinations with suitable weather can quickly bypass planes held on the tarmac to depart without further delay, said Kelly.

It is expected that flight delays in total will be reduced by an estimated 10,500 hours per year.

The airport runway will be closed for 120 days during its reconstruction in 2010.

The Bay Runway project is part of a 10-year capital improvement plan launched in 2007.

"Although flight delays are an inevitable part of airline travel, anything we can do to reduce congestion on our runways and cut down delays will help maintain JFK's status as a leading transportation hub," said New York state assemblywoman Barbara Clark. "The New York metropolitan area is among the busiest for air travel. These runway improvements will help travelers reach destinations on time. That this project will produce needed jobs is an additional benefit."