Looks like New Yorkers are starting to see some results from last year’s suffocating loads — and subsequent complaints — out of and the Newark and JFK. If you remember the piece published in the New Yorker late last year and several of the subsequent articles that ran here at Gadling, you may know that the three airports suffer from terrible congestion, resulting in late flights all over the country, hours on the tarmac and general misery for anyone traveling through the area.
Much of the problem lies in the sheer demand out of the three airports. Passengers want to fly out at optimal times so airlines pack flights into certain times of the day. But FAA and Air Traffic Control requirements stipulate that only a certain amount of flights can leave within a particular window.
Until recently, there were more flights than there were take off slots, which kind of creates a problem even before one even exists. Mix some crummy weather and mechanical problems in and you have what’s known as today the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Now, the maximum number of outgoing flights will be changed from 100/hour to 83/hour, which should ease some of the congestion woes. Extra flights that were during peak hours will be spread throughout the day, with the net result of extra flights overall during the day. Recall however, that even at 100 flights/hour supply was still extremely tight during peak times. If that goes down, will ticket prices go up? My guess is yes.
[Via CNN]