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JFK closes its biggest runway to rebuild

02.27.2010

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On March 1, JFK is closing down its busiest runway, a nearly three-mile long strip of asphalt that handles roughly a third of the airport's traffic. The runway will be closed for about four months, during which the asphalt will be replaced by concrete, and the strip will be widened by 50 feet. The concrete surface is expected to extend the runway's lifespan by 40 years, and airport officials tell the New York Times that the project should eventually save about 10,000 hours in delays per year.


On-Time Takeoffs

Kennedy was ranked 22nd among 31 U.S. airports in on-time departures in 2009, with about 79 percent of flights taking off within 15 minutes of schedule, according to U.S. Transportation Department data. Formally known as John F. Kennedy International Airport, the facility handles about 440,000 flights a year.
“We’ve planned for every contingency that you can just about think of,” said Mike Sammartino, director of system operations at the Federal Aviation Administration. “We have gone above and beyond what I’d say is the normal operating structure of an airport.”
Delta will trim Kennedy departures in March by 10 percent, or an average 18 flights a day, from a year earlier. By June, operations will be down 19 percent, or 40 flights, and by 23 percent, or 48 takeoffs, in July, said Anthony Black, a spokesman for the Atlanta-based carrier.

JetBlue, American

JetBlue began a 10 percent reduction in its Kennedy flights this month and will maintain fewer departures through the September Labor Day holiday. There will be 24 fewer daily flights, or 14 percent, in June and 14, or 8 percent, in July.
“We prefer a four-month closure over the alternative,” said Alison Croyle, a spokeswoman for New York-based JetBlue. “Part-time work that extends for more than a year would have a greater impact on our customers.”
JetBlue will move some of its New York seating capacity to Boston as service expands there, Croyle said.
American will stay at about 90 daily departures from Kennedy, said Tim Smith, a spokesman for the Fort Worth, Texas- based carrier. Because of the work, the airline will delay until July a plan to add about 8 flights a day, he said.
The airlines declined to discuss how the reductions will affect revenue. The Port Authority’s Butcher said he didn’t have an estimate of possible revenue loss at the airport.
“It’s just part of doing business where there are improvements to be made,” Smith said. “We’ll take a little short-term pain for a long-term benefit.”

Busiest NYC Airport

Kennedy is the busiest of the New York-area airports, handling almost 48 million passengers in 2008, ranking it sixth in the nation. The airport is a hub for international departures, and 62 of the carriers flying there are based outside the U.S.
The $373 million runway project began in June and is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2011. Runway 13R-31L, at almost three miles, is second in length only to one at Denver International Airport in the U.S.
The runway will be widened 50 feet to 200 feet to accommodate new, larger aircraft. Taxiways and holding areas will be built to improve plane movement. Changes should save the airport about $60 million a year in “direct operating costs and passenger time,” Butcher said.
“We’ve never done a project like this,” he said of the airport, which opened to commercial flights in 1948. “We’ve had instances in the past where we’ve closed a runway for 30 days to do work, but we’ve never done this.”