PA to study flight delays, improve customer service

(New York - WABC, May 31, 2007) (WABC) -- The owner of the New York City area's three major airports, which often lead the nation in flight delays, is putting together a task force to address the problem.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced Wednesday that a group of political leaders and aviation executives would begin meeting next month.

The group is due to issue recommendations on reducing delays at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty airports by the end of the year.

Among the nation's major airports, the three airports are frequently at the bottom of rankings for on-time flights.

Officials have blamed heavy air traffic, as total passenger counts for the three airports have jumped by 26 percent, to 104 million, in the past four years.

The Port Authority recently said it was buying a fourth airport, Stewart Airport located about 60 miles north of New York City, to ease air congestion.

The task force plans to look at improving how planes are routed on their final approaches to airports, finalizing a Federal Aviation Administration-ordered redesign of the region's airspace, and improving taxiways to make the airports more efficient.

The group includes the chief executive of JetBlue Airways Corp., which drafted a "customer bill of rights" after February and March storms caused the airline to cancel more than 1,000 flights and strand thousands of Northeast travelers. Other task force members include the transportation commissioners of New York and New Jersey and FAA officials.

Customer Service Upgrades

The Port Authority also announced it is upgrading its airports' customer service.

The improvements include increasing customer care representatives staff by more than 50 percent, creating new welcome centers for arriving passengers, providing electronic airport information alerts, adding 5,000 new seats and opening nearly 70 new and upgraded food, beverage and retail outlets as part of a comprehensive, $34 million customer-service program.

"Providing our customers with the best services possible remains our guiding principle," Port Authority Chairman Anthony Coscia said. "The new and enhanced elements in our customer care program focus on the complete travel experience, from parking lot to airline gate and back again. This reaffirmation of our commitment to customer service is a central focus of our 10-year capital plan, which earmarks about $4 billion for our airports."

One of the key initiatives calls for asking customers for their input and feedback, and soliciting their ideas about improving the airports via a dedicated E-mail address: AirportCustomerIdeas@panynj.gov

Other initiatives include: