US: La Guardia’s runways come up short

When a jet carrying then-Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence skidded on landing Oct. 27 at La Guardia Airport, a debate reignited about whether the airport’s famously short runways are safe enough. Nobody was injured after Pence’s Eastern Air Lines Boeing 737 slid about 200 feet past the runway, but it marked the latest of similar incidents at the airport in Queens and unleashed a new wave of speculation about potential changes to the runways. Some have even floated a long-shot plan to build an additional runway on Rikers Island, the nearby site of New York City’s main jail complex. Others have noted the airport’s safety record is solid. They argue the focus should be on improving wait times and traveler experience at La Guardia, where a $4b overhaul includes a new central terminal and expanded taxiways with the aim of reducing flight delays. Phil Derner Jr., president of aviation research company NYCAviation, said La Guardia “has this reputation as the short runway airport,” and while its runways are comparatively short, “its operations have not been affected by that at all,” and the airport doesn’t have an unusually high number of runway-related incidents. The Pence mishap echoed other incidents at La Guardia, which is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Last year, a Delta Air Lines jet skidded off a snowy runway; the NTSB Board faulted the pilot. In 2013, a Southwest jet crash-landed on the runway and skidded; the NTSB said the captain had broken safety rules. No one was killed in either incident. The NTSB is investigating the Pence incident. “All our airports need longer runways, but nowhere more so than La Guardia, both for safety and to reduce delays,” the Global Gateway Alliance, an airport advocacy group, said.<br/>