Aviation traffic snarls in the New York City area may soon be easing with the conclusion of the runway rehabilitation project at Newark Airport (KEWR) earlier this week. Parallel 11,000-foot Runway 4L/22R had been closed since April 15 for the work, which was completed two weeks ahead of schedule.
According to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the $121 million project was required for the runway to meet FAA safety standards. Its closure not only led to delays in arrivals and departures at KEWR but also caused subsequent traffic disruptions at other airports, particularly Teterboro (KTEB), which led to the diversion of business aviation flights to other area airports.
“As FAA staffing and operational challenges impacted air traffic controllers’ ability to effectively use the remaining two operational runways at Newark Liberty during the rehabilitation, the Port Authority worked to accelerate the construction schedule by bringing in additional crews, expanding shifts, and enabling construction to take place 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” the agency noted.
“Newark presently has the ability to use the inboard runway [4L/22R] as a departure-only runway,” said Andrew Aponte, FAA district general manager for New York, speaking on Wednesday at the NBAA Regional Forum at Westchester County Airport (KHPN), adding that the ILS is expected to be operational by next week. “Long story short, they have the ability to run more aircraft in and out of Newark Airport now, which they didn’t have previously.”
The speakers in the air traffic control issues panel also warned the New York operators in the audience to be prepared for the institution of presidential TFRs this summer centered on Bedminster, New Jersey. “Usually, once a TFR goes into effect, all the restrictions associated with it immediately go into effect,” said Dean Snell, manager of NBAA’s air traffic services desk. “With the VIP arriving early or later, those times can change, so it’s usually best not to schedule your arrival 10 minutes before the TFR is expected.”
He noted that the TFRs will come with route advisories for arrivals to specific airports published by the FAA command center. For departures, required routes are not typically specified. “It’s more avoiding those west gates and choosing to go for the north gates and south gates,” explained Snell. “Throw in weather, and now you are looking for any way out of Dodge.”