Minor airport delays, moderate traffic as Long Islanders head home after holiday

With travelers heading home after an Independence Day weekend of sand, sun and fireworks, westbound traffic was moderate on Long Island on Sunday and area airports were reporting only a small percentage of delayed flights.

Westbound traffic was running mostly smoothly on the Long Island Expressway in Suffolk County. There have been pockets of heavy congestion, including near Kennedy Airport on the Belt Parkway and Van Wyck Expressway. There was also some heavy traffic along the Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton, and on the Southern State Parkway west of Exit 27.

Airports in the region were reporting only moderate delays, with about 17%, 16% and 14% of departures delayed at LaGuardia, Newark and Kennedy airports, respectively, according to FlightAware.com, a real-time tracking service. 

AAA had projected a record 61.6 million people would travel by car at least 50 miles over the weekend — a 2.2% increase compared to last year.

Robert Sinclair, senior public affairs manager with AAA Northeast, said gas prices in the region are down 30 to 40 cents from a year ago — which may have led more people to take to the road, driving up traffic over the holiday weekend.

AAA had projected 700,000 vehicle breakdowns across the country over the Fourth of July weekend, which can add to delays, he said.

Sinclair added that he always advises holiday-weekend travelers to leave as early as possible Sunday to beat traffic — or, failing that, to consider leaving early Monday.

"It's really important getting an early start, really early," he said. 

The federal Transportation Security Administration said it was expecting 18.5 million travelers from Tuesday through Monday, with the highest passenger volume — approximately 2.9 million —  expected Sunday.

More flexible work-from-home policies may allow some travelers to leave Monday or Tuesday — which could lead to busier airports into the week, according to Clint Henderson, a travel expert at ThePointsGuy.com.

Henderson said it’s important for travelers to stay updated on weather conditions both at the departure airport and the destination. Monday brings a chance of showers and thunderstorms that are forecast to increase through the evening, according to the National Weather Service.

"Because everything is so interconnected now, if things start to go wrong at one of the major hubs, like JFK, like Newark, even LaGuardia … it can really have cascading effects and lead to messes across the country," he said.

Many of the ramps and roadways around Kennedy Airport have been temporarily modified or rerouted as the airport undergoes a $19 billion redevelopment, contributing to delays. Authorities have encouraged airport travelers to use public transit wherever possible, such as by traveling on the Long Island Rail Road to the AirTrain at Jamaica, Queens.

Besides arriving at the airport plenty ahead of time, Henderson has several tips for avoiding headaches during peak travel periods: install your airline’s app on your smartphone, and contact airline staff quickly if delays or cancellations are announced.

"Always have the airline app that you're flying installed on your phone, because not only are you going to be able to be able to rebook yourself if things go wrong right way, but there’s a lot of times where you get stuff like free Wi-Fi and things like that," Henderson told Newsday.

By Peter Gill

peter.gill@newsday.com