Aviation Congestion

Airspace Redesign

The Federal Aviation Administration is redesigning the airspace in the New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia Metropolitan area to reduce delays in the area. The major airports experiencing severe delays are Newark, JFK, LGA, and Philadelphia International Airport (PHL).

The old, inefficient airspace routes and procedures pieced together over the past several decades needed to be reconfigured to make them more efficient and less complicated. In addition to more jet routes with increased and better access, the Airspace Redesign includes improved use of available runways, fanned headings for departures and parallel arrivals, and more flexibility to manage delays in severe weather. We project that under the Airspace Redesign, delays will be cut by 200,000 hours annually. Airspace Redesign also will have significant environmental benefits and will lead to less fuel usage. The FAA Web site has more information concerning New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia Airspace Redesign.