Winds push delays at JFK to almost 2 hours on 1st day of main runway construction

High winds add to runway closure headaches at JFK

NEW YORK — The closing of a main runway at JFK was expected to make travel to New York difficult. High winds on Monday made the experience miserable.

Delays for flights arriving at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport were averaging nearly two hours on the day the airport’s main runway shut down for a four-month renovation.

The airport was down to just one runway in the morning because of the velocity and direction of the wind. Port Authority spokesman John Kelly said the airport had three runways operating again as of early afternoon.

FAA spokesman Paul Takemoto said JFK was experiencing inbound delays of one hour and 42 minutes because of the construction and winds reaching 35 mph.

Kelly said outbound flights had average delays of less than 15 minutes.

Air traffic tracking site FlightAware reported that planes at neighboring LaGuardia airport, also in Queens, are operating on time.

The third major New York area airport, Newark Liberty International, had some inbound and outbound delays due to wind.

In planning for the runway closure, JFK officials anticipated having to cut back to one runway because of wind on less than four days in the entire four-month period, Takemoto said.

“Figures, it happens the first day.”

JFK’s main runway, which will be under construction until June 30, is one of the longest commercial runways in the world. It is being repaved with concrete instead of less-durable asphalt and widened to accommodate today’s bigger planes.