Crowded Skies Push Idea Of Fourth Airport

Renewed talk of the development of a fourth major airport to serve the New York metropolitan area, a plan that could have New York-bound business travelers landing more than 60 miles from the heart of the city, then commuting in, is being given serious consideration by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

A fourth airport is not one that would be built from scratch—from a so-called "greenfield"—since the cost of land in the New York area is prohibitively expensive. A fourth airport would come into New York City's flying fold from among a number of existing smaller airports in New York state, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, said Bill DeCota, the Port Authority's director of aviation.

"Many of these have existing infrastructure that isn't being fully used. Investment costs would be sizeable but manageable, so any redevelopment program would be one of a brownfield," meaning one already there, he said.

The idea is in response to nearly maxed-out airspace at the three major airports that serve New York—Kennedy International, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International—and related concerns for the sustained growth and vitality of the region's economy, DeCota said.

"It's an airspace issue, a matter of handling current demand and meeting future demand at the three airports, and ensuring that business and business-related activity, including receiving ever-increasing amounts of cargo, remain strong," DeCota acknowledged. "Demand has been growing robustly for the last couple of years. In 2003, there were 86 million passengers at the airports, 96 million in 2004 and 100 million in 2005. This year, 103 million are expected, with the numbers projected to rise to 114 million by 2010 and 130 million by 2020," he said.

With the huge numbers has come the question of the best way to keep up with soaring demand while keeping doors open to traffic and trade.

"New York's major airports are being run as efficiently as they can be. At LaGuardia, for example, with only 680 acres, 38,235 passengers per acre were served in 2005, while at Denver's Stapleton, in contrast, with its 34,000 acres, only 1,264 passengers per acre were served last year. Even with that kind of efficiency in place and with billions in capital improvements recently, there is a limit to what the Port Authority's airports can do," DeCota said.

To determine which airport could be used, the Port Authority is working with the Federal Aviation Administration, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and the New York State Transportation Department on a regional air service demand study, he said. Results should be known by late summer. A cooperative effort of this kind is needed because the Port Authority's jurisdiction extends only 25 miles out from the Statue of Liberty.

Airports being studied include Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, N.Y.; Long Island Islip MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma, N.Y.; Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y.; Trenton Mercer Airport in Ewing, N.J.; Atlantic City International Airport; and Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pa.

"These serve a combined passenger total of about five or six million a year, so they have a great deal of unused capacity," DeCota said. His sense, he said, is that there is room for the kind of regional growth sought by the Port Authority west of the Hudson River.

"Whichever of the airports is chosen, and some may prove to be too far away, I don't think the additional cost of commuting to Manhattan will be a problem for business travelers, who are accustomed to traveling long distances, and because their overall travel options would increase. Flight availability and price, of course, are considerations, but business travelers would actually gain in convenience," DeCota said. "The reality is that not all business travelers are coming into the heart of the city."

Other options for business travelers include train service, with as many as 35,000 a day riding the rails to New York's airports, and helicopters to and from (see story, page 22), he noted.

The regional airports being studied also benefit, he continued, because increased capacity would mean increased activity and the possibility that a conference center, for example, could be built nearby. "With the redistribution of traffic, the airports see this as a tremendous economic stimulator and would welcome the extra business," he said. "The key is not to impede air traffic."

Officials of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission a Philadelphia-based group with experience in planning matters of this nature, is that a fourth airport makes sense.

"This is a good idea because there's a lot of excess capacity, principally in the form of underutilized runways, at the smaller regional airports being studied," said Roger Moog, DVRPC manager of aviation planning.

The DVRPC, working with FAA, the Port Authority and the New York State Transportation Department, is looking into the feasibility of using Trenton Mercer, Atlantic City International and Lehigh Valley International.

"Expanding use of these airports would lighten the load on New York's airports, benefit business travelers in the short and long terms by giving them greater convenience, and help airspace issues of delays in the air and on the ground, as well as give local people, living near the airports, more travel choices," Moog said.

A major challenge for the smaller airports, Moog continued, will be getting commercial airlines, notably low-cost carriers, to either increase or begin service.

Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, N.Y., is located 65 miles northwest of Manhattan. Chuck Seliga, the airport's managing director, said the fourth airport idea will work at Stewart.

"We have the capacity for both domestic and international flights, have spent $76 million over the last five years to upgrade our facilities, including a reworked passenger terminal coming this October, would have no objections from the local community, and with two runways—one of 11,800 feet and the other going from 6,000 to 7,000 feet—can handle any planes flying," he said.

While Manhattan commuting costs would be about $110 each way, Seliga said, business travelers would adjust fairly easily, when they realize Stewart has more reasonable rates than other airports, is hassle-free and can be reached at 65 miles per hour on major highways.