AC

Business traveler Jerry Green loves New York. It's the flying in and out of there that drives him crazy. "I've had incredible delays," says Green, a consultant from St. Petersburg, Fla., who visits New York on business at least eight times a year. "I remember one night we didn't get there until 3 a.m., and I had to be in front of a customer at 8. I travel everywhere, every week, and it's the only place I go that I truly dread." For airlines, the skies over the New York City metropolitan area are the most sought after in the U.S.— and the most crowded. With roughly a third of all flights in the nation flying to, from or through the New York area, congestion there can lead to rippling delays that ground planes and frustrate passengers from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. Recognizing the critical role New York plays, federal and local officials are taking a series of steps to keep air traffic moving. New flight lanes are being carved in the skies, runways are being widened and limits...