Stuck in Fort Lauderdale

[question everything]

The Wall Street Journal

July 12, 2005

THE MIDDLE SEAT
By SCOTT MCCARTNEY


Stuck in Fort Lauderdale

FAA, Local Officials Fight Over Using More Runways; Tourism vs. System Delays
July 12, 2005; Page D4

Travel quiz: What are the three worst airports in the country for delays so far this year?

1. New York's La Guardia (No surprise)
2. Newark, N.J. (Of course)
3. Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Huh?)

Fort Lauderdale, once a sleepy airport overshadowed by Miami, has become a huge competitive battleground for airlines, and a favored destination of the growing flock of private jets. Takeoffs and landings this year through May were up more than 20% over the same period in 2003; US Airways Group Inc. is trying to build a small hub there, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines are expanding.

That's caused a surge in delays -- and a nasty feud between federal officials who see a quick fix for travelers and local officials who are trying to block change, even at the risk of cherished tourism. Fort Lauderdale also has become a red-flag warning that horrendous delays, no longer confined to cities like Chicago and New York, are spreading to fast-growing secondary airports.

(snip)

Airlines say the major problem is that Fort Lauderdale is using only one runway for jet traffic, though it has three usable runways. A decade ago, the Federal Aviation Administration signed an "informal" agreement with the local community to minimize neighborhood noise by funneling jets to just one runway. A shorter parallel runway is basically just used for propeller planes; a full-size diagonal runway is rarely used at all.

One 9,000-foot runway was enough for jets -- until now. "If we could just use all the concrete that's already there, we'd be all right," says Dave Barger, JetBlue's president and chief operating officer. The FAA agrees, and sent notice to local officials last month that it intended to start using all three runways for jets. Five days later, Broward County commissioners voted unanimously to sue the agency. Commissioners had agreed to expanded use of the mile-long parallel runway for some corporate jets and regional airliners, and hoped that would appease the FAA. It didn't -- the FAA wants to use the diagonal runway, too.

Since that would put airplane noise over neighborhoods that currently don't get much noise, the commissioners even voted to bulldoze the diagonal runway to voice their displeasure, although they know they can't do that without FAA permission. "The diagonal runway is the most noise sensitive, and it's not going to be used," Broward County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman says. It's a curious conundrum for a city built on tourism. Fort Lauderdale is adding gates and parking garages and still enticing traffic by waiving landing fees for airlines offering new service to some destinations and for private jets. The city wants more tourists, it just wants them to somehow land silently.

(snip)

It's a classic question of who bears the pain: airport neighbors who have to suffer more noise, or travelers suffering lengthy delays. For now, travelers are bearing the brunt.

• Write to Scott McCartney at [e-mail]5

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112112772602982879,00.html

[Dr.Phool]

1. I think for safety

I'd use only one. The three runways intersect, and there a few incompetent people in the tower. If the runways were parallel it would be a different story.

[question everything]

2. Threre are many airports with intersecting runways

including La Guardia and San Francisco