Essay Sample on JFK International Airport's Operational Statistics

Figure 1: Configuration of JFK airport. Source: (Airnav, 2017).

From Figure 1, it can be deduced that the cofiguration of the JFK airport can be broken down into two runways presented on the AC 5060-5 (1983) document. In essence, that it is a comnbination of confuguration 1 and configuration 10 on the AC 5060-5 (1983) document in page 8, which are presented below:

Figure 2: Airport configuration Figure 1 on AC 5060-5. Source: (AC 5060-5, 1983, p8)

Figure 3: Airport configuration (Figure 10 on AC 5060-5). Source: (AC 5060-5, 1983, p8).

Determination of JFKs ASV

Since the airport configuration of JFK is a combination of configuration of Figure 1 and Figure 10, it is obtained by adding the hourly capacities and annual service volumes of configurations shown in Figure 2 and 3 above (In the AC 5060-5 document it is configuration 1 and 10 ). The two runway use configurations can be summed up to provide JFKs mix index, hourly capacity operations/hour (VFR and IFR), and the annual service volume (ASV) operations per year as given in the table below:

Table 1: Estimated Mix Index % (C + 3D), Hourly Capacity of Operations/Hr, and Annual Sevice Volume of run use configuration of JFK.

Run use configuration of JFK Mix Index % (C + 3D) Hourly Capacity Ops/Hr Annual Service Volume (ASV)

VFR IFR 0-20 295 118 585,000

21-50 214 114 470,000

51-80 184 112 465,000

81-120 160 112 495,000

121-180 145 110 580,000

The annual demand for the JFK airport in 2012 was 429,733 operations, while that of consequent years was 433,934, 453,610, 469,103, and 479, 627 for the years 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 respectively. Therefore, this means that the annual demand of JFK international airport was highest in the 2016 year, totaling 479,627 operations. As such, in 2016, there was a significant increase of the number of operations compared to 2015. As such, the current demand for the JFK international airport is estimated to be 479,627, which is the demand for 2016.

According to Airnav (2017), JFK international airports operational statistics are that it operates 91% commercial aircrafts, 7% air taxi, 2% transient general aviation, and approximately 1% military airplanes. Air taxis are mainly small commercial aircrafts that in many occasions make short flights mainly based on a demand criterion. For this reason, they should not be included in the mix index percentage. Commercial airplanes can be considered as large aircrafts while transient and general aviation, as well as military can be considered as heavy aircrafts.

As such, the mix index is calculated using the formula below:

MI = (C) + 3(D) x 100

Where (C) stands for large aircraft = 91% while (D) stands for heavy aircraft = 2% (transient) + 1% (military) = 3%

Thus, MI = 91 + 3(3) = 100%

For this reason, the MI index of JFK is 100%, which falls in the fourth category (81-120), as presented in Table 1. As such, the VFR is 160, IFR is 112 while the annual service volume (ASV) is 495,000.

Determination of Current Demand (Annual Demand) and the Average Annual Delay

Having determined the ASV, it is possible to determine the average annual delay. However, it should be noted that when demand exceeds the airports capacity, which is often represented using a number that is greater than 1.0, delays will occur, where most viable solutions, such as constructing a second runway are considered.

The annual delay is calculated using the formula:

Average Annual Delay = (Average Annual Demand between 2012 and 2016)/ASV

Table 2: JFKs annual demand for the period 2012-2016

Year Demand Average Annual Demand

2012 429,733 453,201.4

2013 433,934 2014 453,610 2015 469,103 2016 479,627 Table 2 highlights the demand for JFK between the 5-year periods of January 2012 to December 2016. To obtain the average annual demand, the demand for the five-year period is added and the sum divided by 5, which gives 453,201 average operations annually. The average annual delay, is therefore, obtained as follows: 453,610/495,000=0.92. For this reason, the average annual delay is less than 1, meaning that the airport has not exceeded its capacity, and thus, there is no need to adopt other measures, such as constructing new terminals or runways.

References

Airnav (2017). John F Kennedy International Airport New York, New York, USA: FAA information effective 22 June 2017. Retrieved from http://airnav.com/airport/KJFK

AC 5060-5 (1983). Airport capacity and delay. Springfield, VA: U.S. Department of Transportation, FAA.