Airports of Tomorrow

This report contains a comprehensive plan for a Regional Airport System for the New Jersey New York-Connecticut metropolitan area. The Plan recommends an integrated system of 129 airports, some of which already are in operation, to meet the needs of the Region’s growing air commerce.

As regards major transport airports, the Plan calls for improvement and continuous operation of the existing single runway facilities at LaGuardia, the expansion of Newark as a dual runway airport, and the opening of Idlewild and its development as a dual runway port. After these three airports have been developed to the above capacity, the Plan proposes a fourth major airport in the North Jersey Meadows which will be required to handle anticipated increased traffic after 1955 unless it becomes operationally feasible to expand Idlewild to twelve runways.

Eight supplementary major airports are recommended to relieve peak loads at the major ports and aid in trunkline passenger movement. Some may eventually be used as feeder stops.

Eighteen secondary and 99 local airports, 72 of the latter non-existent today, are recommended as a particular necessity to future personal flying demands of an estimated 20,000 planes, and in order to encourage the normal development of civil aviation.