New York Airports Suffer From Lowest On-time Arrivals

[GTJ]

An new report from the Brookings Institute analyzes air travel trends in the United States and focuses on delays, their causes, and suggested improvements. Among the data included in the report is a table that shows the percentage of on-time airplane arrivals at airports in the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the country. The lowest percentage of on-time arrivals is New York (including northern New Jersey and Long Island), where only 66.3 percent of airplane arrivals were on-time (data are from June 2009). Of delayed arrivals, the average delay was 68.6 minutes.

 

The report concludes that one of the causes of aviation delays is the proliferation of short-distance flights that unnecessarily congest airports (about one-half of all domestic flights are under 500 miles in length). There is a recommendation that ground transportation alternatives be utilized so as to free up airspace for where it is most effectively-utilized, i.e., long-distance flights. The report examines high speed rail as an alternative, though it appears to ignore the use of bus service (something that is likely much less expensive, at least in the short run, and something that is seriously threatened at present with the continued contraction of Greyhound Lines service).

 

For cruise line passengers the report highlights a fact that many on this board have oft-repeated. Don't rely on too short of a connection between a flight arriving in New York and the departure of your vessel. If at all possible plan to arrive the day before (or earlier). Use the extra day to take advantage of all the sightseeing opportunities in New York.

 

For the full report see the Brookings Institute site here. http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2009/1008_air_travel_tomer_puentes.aspx

[njhorseman]

This is something the Brookings Institute had to study? :D

 

The on-time statistics for the NY area airports have been at the bottom of the barrel for as long as I can remember.

[njhorseman]

An new report from the Brookings Institute analyzes air travel trends in the United States and focuses on delays, their causes, and suggested improvements. Among the data included in the report is a table that shows the percentage of on-time airplane arrivals at airports in the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the country. The lowest percentage of on-time arrivals is New York (including northern New Jersey and Long Island), where only 66.3 percent of airplane arrivals were on-time (data are from June 2009). Of delayed arrivals, the average delay was 68.6 minutes.

 

The report concludes that one of the causes of aviation delays is the proliferation of short-distance flights that unnecessarily congest airports (about one-half of all domestic flights are under 500 miles in length). There is a recommendation that ground transportation alternatives be utilized so as to free up airspace for where it is most effectively-utilized, i.e., long-distance flights. The report examines high speed rail as an alternative, though it appears to ignore the use of bus service (something that is likely much less expensive, at least in the short run, and something that is seriously threatened at present with the continued contraction of Greyhound Lines service).

 

For cruise line passengers the report highlights a fact that many on this board have oft-repeated. Don't rely on too short of a connection between a flight arriving in New York and the departure of your vessel. If at all possible plan to arrive the day before (or earlier). Use the extra day to take advantage of all the sightseeing opportunities in New York.

 

For the full report see the Brookings Institute site here. http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2009/1008_air_travel_tomer_puentes.aspx

 

 

Do these ivory tower academics have any clue that a huge percentage of the passengers on these "short-distance" flights are business people who could not possibly take the extra time needed to travel by bus or train?

[smeyer418]

LOL the 500 mile circle includes DC good luck on getting business people not to fly to DC from NY. Amtrack takes about 4-5 hours when its working. I have made it from DC to my office door to door in an hour and a half by plane.

[GTJ]

Do these ivory tower academics have any clue that a huge percentage of the passengers on these "short-distance" flights are business people who could not possibly take the extra time needed to travel by bus or train?

 

Well, if a high speed rail system includes trains at 200 mph, and if we assume that the average short-distance flight is 250 miles (one-half of the 500 mile limit used in their study), then the rail trip would require 1.5 hours. That's probably competitive with air travel time . . . even more so when one includes the greater productivity one has on a train compared to an airplane. The problem with that system is that such a program would likely become gold-plated and otherwise laden with pork. Most likely entirely new rights-of-way would have to be acquired (as was done with the Japanese Shinkansen and French TGV systems). Ouch! Call out taxing authorities to further empty taxpayer pockets!

 

The larger issue is what to do when air traffic demand exceeds capacity? Airport capacity could be increased (though I don't know the extent to which the problem is capacity with the airports or the airspace). Between suburban sprawl and NIMBYism airport expansion can be difficult to achieve. In the absence of capacity expansion excess demand can (1) result in queueing, (2) be prioritized, or (3) diverted to other means. Queueing is, essentially, sharing the delays among all air travelers. Priority could be given the the most efficient use of the air system (i.e., the largest aircraft or those willing to pay the highest fees have priority). Airport delays now mean that many air trips are now diverted to private car trips (along with the increased risk to life that car travel has compared to air travel), but other means of diversion--such as better scheduled ground transportation--might better divert excess demand. There's a cost to all of these alternatives and a big question is who pays and how?

 

The important element here in New York--and with respect to the cruise market--is that this report continues sounding the warning: don't rely on the airline to arrive in New York as scheduled. Plan on a delay. Failure to arrive at the cruise ship terminal sufficiently in advance of the vessel's departure may cause boarding denial.

[GTJ]

LOL the 500 mile circle includes DC good luck on getting business people not to fly to DC from NY. Amtrak takes about 4-5 hours when its working. I have made it from DC to my office door to door in an hour and a half by plane.

 

I think you've had incredibly good luck flying and incredibly bad luck railroading . . . might your office at the airport itself? :)

 

The Delta Air Lines website shows scheduled travel time for the shuttle from DCA to LGA as being 1:20, and the Amtrak website shows the scheduled travel time for the Acela Express from WAS to NYP as being 2:47. When adding in typical access time between the city centers and the airports, and considering productive vs. non-productive travel time, many people consider Amtrak to be competitive. Even so, you might remember that Eastern Airlines billboard along the Amtrak route that for many years advertised to railroad passengers that if they had flown on the Eastern shuttle they would be there by then!

 

While between Washington and New York Amtrak has a higher market share than all the airlines combined, you may be right about market share for people traveling on business, i.e., Amtrak probably has a much higher market share in this market for leisure travel.

 

(For cruise ship passengers coming to New York I would imagine another element for consideration is baggage. Some cruisers probably bring too much with them, and the airlines are charging quite a bit when that happens. While it is possible that Amtrak will change its rules, too, at least for now it is quite generous. For no additional charge passengers can check three pieces of luggage up to 50 lbs. each, plus take on board an additional two pieces of luggage up to 50 lbs. each, plus take on board "personal items" (e.g., purses, briefcases, laptop computers) without limitation. If one was traveling with five pieces of luggage, then Amtrak would charge nothing extra, while Delta Air Lines would collect a total of $750 round-trip.)