Stewart Airport is physically larger than Newark Airport and is in a separate parcel of airspace than the three NYC metro area airports - LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark-Liberty. All three of those airports are constrained by FAA flight limits and limited capacity to expand. The Port Authority is hoping to increase usage at Stewart from a current level of 300,000 to more than 3 million by 2015.
"This project represents an opportunity to alleviate congestion at Teterboro and Newark, and help the region continue to grow," Chairman Anthony R. Coscia said Wednesday.What would make Stewart more attractive to consumers is a fast link to Midtown Manhattan. Extending the Port Jervis line to Stewart might be one possibility, as could a potential rail/car bridge replacement for the Tappan Zee bridge over the Hudson River enabling connections between Stewart Airport, hubs in Orange, Rockland, Westchester, Bronx, and the Manhattan terminus.
There are hurdles to clear, not the least of which is persuading Teterboro's denizens to land 60 miles to the north. Even Coscia acknowledged that would be difficult.
"It is not the solution, but part of it," he said. "Our agency would love to see greater use of Stewart and less use of Teterboro. As a policy, that is the direction we are headed in."
Independent aviation experts said Stewart is probably too far from Manhattan to be a good substitute for Teterboro.
"The natural question is: Why aren't they going today?" said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition. "There would have to be some awfully strong inducements in order to effect that in a large way."
But some commercial passengers might pick Stewart instead of Newark, Mitchell said. Newark had the nation's worst rating among major airports for on-time arrival in 2006, a position that Coscia blamed on the region's crowded airspace.
The three major airports handled about 103 million passengers in 2006, and the airspace is likely to run out of room for more flights by 2015, Coscia said.
Stewart's flights would operate in a different airspace than flights at Newark, La Guardia, and John F. Kennedy International airports.
Stewart recently added JetBlue and AirTran Airways, but it remains dominated by general aviation. The airport needs more frequent commercial service to become a major airport, PA officials said.
Seeing as the plans for Stewart are long term, combining the transit links and the expanded use of Stewart as a fourth major airport for the region makes sense and would complement other plans - including Access to the Region's Core.
The New York metro region is extremely crowded and since we have the opportunity to essentially open an airport in the area without going through the expense of having to buy thousands of acres of land, build the airport infrastructure from scratch, and can concentrate on airport links to the rest of the region makes this a no brainer.
If you live in Northern Bergen, you might be more tempted to fly out of Stewart than battle traffic heading to Newark or the other NYC airports. Bergen County residents would also benefit if they knew that they could get low cost flights out of Stewart and know that their flights would have a better chance of departing and arriving on schedule. That is far more difficult to accomplish at the other New York area airports as the number of departures now exceeds the pre-9/11 levels and delays are on the rise. JetBlue and ATA are expected to take advantage of this situation. This would also benefit the Hudson Valley and Newburgh, which should see an increase in business relating to the airport development.
On the downside, expect to see more traffic on the Thruway and nearby roads unless rail links and other transit options are put in place. That's why dealing with the traffic situation must be done in conjunction with the airport development. This is a long term project that will help the local economy immensely.
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