NEW YORK, NY December 11, 2007 —A US Department of Transportation proposal on how to reduce flight delays in the New York area is expected to reach the president's desk maybe as early as next week. Possible flight caps at JFK has airline and elected officials worried. WNYC's Richard Hake reports.

Limiting the number of take-offs and landings at Kennedy to 80 per hour as proposed would have a negative effect so says The Port Authority, which runs JFK. It says the airport can handle more than 100 take offs and landings and it has provided a list of about 100 ways capacity could be increased.

Airline experts says flights would just get pushed to Newark and Laguardia...and they too would be vulnerable to caps in the future. The Port Authority says years of neglect and under-investment in the air system won't be solved by congestion pricing and auctioning off slots at the airports. US Senator Charles Schumer says the government's proposals would only increase fares, reduce travel options and hurt low cost air service.

He says to fight delays the plan should include hiring more air traffic controllers and implementing modern flight technology faster at the New York airports. The government wants to have some kind of plan in place before the end of the year. For WNYC, I'm Richard Hake.