Runway closure will reduce flights from Lauderdale
5-month reconstruction project to divert more planes over nearby homes
Travelers at Fort Lauderdale’s airport will have fewer flights to choose from next year as one of its two runways is shut down for five months.
Airport director Mark Gale predicts the number of flights could drop by 20 to 25 percent when the north runway closes from June through October 2019.
He said international flights probably would not change, since there are fewer of them and officials don’t want to see this growing segment of airport traffic affected.
Instead, the airport is working with domestic airlines, Gale said. The airlines could reduce the number of flights to popular destinations such as New York or Chicago and instead use larger planes to accommodate the same number of passengers.
Officials estimate there may be a million fewer passengers boarding planes at the airport in 2019 because of the reduced flights.
“We are working with the airlines and the FAA control tower to more closely anticipate the impact and potential reduction in flight operations,” airport spokesman Greg Meyer said.
The summer work schedule also will have less of an effect on the airlines than if
it were done during the height of the tourist season, he said. However, the summer also has heavy thunderstorms, which could delay air traffic and potentially create larger backups for takeoffs on the one runway.
The north runway has been in use at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport since 1943, when it was a naval air station in World War II. It was last closed in 2004 for a major resurfacing, where the top layer of asphalt was removed and replaced, Gale said.
This time, the center portion of the runway is being replaced with concrete, which should extend its life to about 30 years instead of 12, Gale said.
During the $74 million reconstruction, all airport traffic will be diverted to the south runway, which opened in 2014 and led to a surge of complaints from people under the flight paths in Dania Beach, Plantation and Fort Lauderdale.
Neighbors expect it will get worse.
“People here will be taking sleeping pills and wearing earmuffs and drinking more,” Dania Beach resident Gary Luedtke said.
The north runway work is expected to be done after the sound insulation program for neighboring homes most affected by the planes is completed, Gale said.
But Luedtke, whose home has already been insulated, said it’s still disturbing every time a plane comes in for a landing.
“You hear a noise like a jackhammer,” Luedtke said. “No matter what you’re doing, you stop and look up.”
The runway work will be put out to bid later this year. Gale said the five-month shutdown is a conservative estimate and there will be incentives included if the contractor finishes the work early.