US puts pressure on airlines to cut JFK schedules

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The government pressured airlines Monday to cooperate with efforts to reduce delays at New York's John F. Kennedy airport by ensuring it can impose schedule cuts if carriers fail to act voluntarily.

In a regulatory filing one day before the Transportation Department convenes an unusual JFK scheduling conference with the airlines, the Federal Aviation Administration gave the facility its rarely used worst congestion rating.

The designation ensures schedule reductions for spring and summer travel will occur whether airlines agree to them or not. It also formally extends FAA authority to cut schedules of overseas carriers at JFK, if necessary. Dozens of international airlines operate flights there, including British Airways and AirFrance/KLM.

Delays at Kennedy and other New York area airports can affect flights nationally. The FAA already limits the number of takeoffs and landings at LaGuardia, which is close to JFK.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters called the two-day scheduling meeting after President Bush ordered her to devise a strategy to improve airline service and cut delays, which are on a record pace in 2007.

Chicago O'Hare, where peak-hour flights were reduced three years ago to ease delays, is the only other U.S. airport that operates under the "Level 3" congestion designation.

At the meeting starting Tuesday, domestic airlines will discuss JFK scheduling for the busy spring and summer season, the most lucrative for carriers.

"Our strong preference is to develop market-based solutions that will address delays and preserve passenger choice," Peters said in a statement. "But we will consider scheduling reductions as a last resort in order to prevent a repeat of this summer's nightmare delays."

Schedule changes would affect airlines including JetBlue Airways and Delta Air Lines. JetBlue is based at JFK, while Delta has a major hub. Other carriers also operate there but have fewer flights.

According to the FAA, preliminary flight schedule information for summer 2008 shows that airlines plan to increase flights at JFK. The agency wants no more than 80 flights per hour from 6 a.m. through 2:59 p.m. and 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. From 3 p.m. to 7:59 p.m., the cap would be 81.

Daily operations at JFK increased 41 percent from March 2006 to August 2007 compared with the same period a year earlier. At the same time, on-time arrivals fell from 69 percent to 61 percent. Delays exceeding more than one hour were up 114 percent.

This past summer, weekday demand at 4 p.m., the busiest time of the day, was more than 110 scheduled arrivals and departures. Airlines exceeded the airport's capacity at other times of the day as well, the FAA said.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, JFK's operator, said the FAA's proposal would cut flights to levels not seen since the late 1960s and hurt business.

"The FAA's action would simply put a 'no vacancy' sign up at one of the nation's busiest airports and then simply walk away from the problem," Port Authority Executive Director Anthony Shorris said in a statement.