James Oberstar: “The New York-New Jersey-Philadelphia metropolitan area has the most complex air space in the United States; that means…”

“The New York-New Jersey-Philadelphia metropolitan area has the most complex air space in the United States; that means, the most complex air space in the world. Four of the Nation's five airports reporting the worst on-time performance are Newark, LaGuardia, JFK and Philadelphia. Holding time is five times greater than any place in the country. The percentage of flights that arrive in Newark over an hour late is 15 percent of all the fights. Seventy-five percent of the Nation's domestic and international flights are affected by delays and inefficiencies in the New York-New Jersey-Philadelphia air space, no matter where they're going. You have international flights arriving from the transatlantic corridor. You have flights arriving from Canada, flights arriving from South America, flights arriving transcontinental from the United States on the east coast merging into this area. Sure, there are awful noise impacts upon residents, but the redesign will save noise to some 619,000 people, shifting it elsewhere, shifting it away from other people. FAA has held over 120 public meetings since they began the process of the air space redesign. This will save 20 percent of delays and 12 million minutes a year. This is important to the Nation, not just to this region.”