DOT 180-08
Contact: Sarah Echols
Monday, Dec. 22, 2008
Tel.:(202) 366-4570

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters Announces New Short-Term Effort to Address Congestion and Delays at LaGuardia Airport 

WASHINGTON – As part of the continued effort to address chronic congestion at New York’s delay-prone LaGuardia airport, the U.S. DOT’s Federal Aviation Administration will work with carriers to voluntarily reduce scheduled operations there from 75 to an average of 71 per hour, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters announced today.

“Too many flyers know that LaGuardia’s delays are the worst of the worst, and we want to use every tool at our disposal to help passengers stuck with this grueling congestion,” Secretary Peters said.

The Secretary said in 2007 and so far in 2008, LaGuardia ranked last among the 32 major U.S. airports in on-time arrival performance, with an arrival rate just above 61 percent. The airport ranked just 28th for on-time departure performance over the first 10 months of 2008. Recent data show that lowering the hourly cap on operations from 75 to 71 could reduce delays by up to 41 percent, saving up to $178 million in delay related costs per year.

Although the Administration’s proposal to inject fare-lowering competition via auctions into the three New York airports was stayed by the court, the Secretary said today’s action is a near-term step toward restoring reliable air service to LaGuardia. “We are taking this short-term step because passengers deserve our best efforts to fix the problem of New York aviation delays,” she said.

The Secretary said the Department is working to reduce delays and help consumers – with the cap helping in the short term – but that any plan to promote airline competition and help keep airfares low for consumers over the long haul must include market-based solutions. Caps alone are not the long-term solution, she said.

As part of its larger efforts, the Department has taken more than 30 different actions to improve the flying experience in and out of New York – from opening military airspace, increasing consumer protections, to implementing airspace redesign and operational improvements.

Since the beginning of this year, the Department has completed 23 of the operational improvements recommended by the Aviation Rulemaking Committee, she said. These measures include adding an additional westbound departure route out of New York area airports, adding escape routes during convective weather when en route airspace is limited, and redesigning airspace to more efficiently move airplanes.

The airlines and the public will have 10 days to comment on the proposal. Under the proposal, the new lowered cap would take effect in April, 2009, and last through Oct. 24. The Federal Register notice on the proposal is available for review at http://www.federalregister.gov/inspection.aspx#special