Stewart International Airport and all others around the nation will be safer, more efficient, better able to handle congestion and more environmentally friendly through saving on fuel.
That’s the future, and it’s beginning to be implemented now, said Carmine Gallo, regional administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration. He described the NextGen Air Transportation System as a “suite of all these technologies coming together,” ranging from satellite guidance to digital data communications systems.
NextGen is in its early stages of implementation and will bring increasing benefits to air travelers that the agency estimates nationwide to total about $24 billion through 2020. It may cost the federal government as much or more during that time, and airlines face expenses to install equipment and do training. Flight delays in 2009 cost the nation about $2 billion and caused lost income to airlines and others of about $9 billion, he said.
Better landing procedures enabled by NextGen save money by streamlining flight paths, including landings. A test in Miami found planes used 50 gallons less in fuel in new landing procedures. Such efficiency also translates to less carbon and pollution, Gallo said.
A new control center is being planned for the New York region and Stewart has asked to be considered for it.
Gallo said Stewart has a chance. “You’re on the list,” for research, he said.
The decision is a long way off and existing facilities are in the immediate New York City area, including a large center in Ronkonkoma, Suffolk County. A large number of jobs would be at the center, but Gallo declined to give a number. Advocates of keeping the facility on Long Island say they see 900 jobs at stake.
“I just want them to come up here and look around and compare it,” said James Wright, chairman of the Stewart Airport Commission.
Another official at the FAA, Leo Prusak, said Stewart is likely to be a parking lot for many of the planes expected in the region for the 2014 Super Bowl game at MetLife stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
The FAA is planning where to park the 800 to 1,000 planes expected, Prusak said. It is likely Stewart will play a key role, he said.
“The Super Bowl is going to create a really huge problem for us. It’s really parking,” Prusak said. “We don’t know until two weeks ahead of the game how big our problem will be. It depends on the teams.” Most of those planes are private craft owned or chartered by well-heeled sports fans.
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