Flight delays mount ahead of Memorial Day after LGA shuts Runway 4/22

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey shut LaGuardia Airport’s Runway 4/22 on Wednesday, May 20, after a sinkhole was discovered during a routine morning inspection, cutting the airport’s operating capacity just before Memorial Day travel surged. The runway, one of LaGuardia’s two, stayed closed through Friday evening while crews inspected pavement, ran ground-penetrating radar and made repairs. The FAA said it slowed flights into LaGuardia because of weather and the runway problem. By Friday night, the Port Authority said the runway had reopened, but warned that delays could continue. ### Where was the sinkhole, and why did it shut a runway? The Port Authority discovered the hole at about 11 a.m. Wednesday during its daily inspection of the airfield, according to statements reported by local outlets. The agency closed Runway 4/22 because of the sinkhole’s proximity to the runway and because engineers were checking for any other unstable areas nearby. QNS reported that the opening was on Taxiway Bravo rather than on the runway surface itself, citing the Port Authority and FAA statements. The Port Authority said its investigation into the cause is continuing. ### How long was Runway 4/22 out of service? Runway 4/22 remained closed from Wednesday until 7:45 p.m. Friday, when the Port Authority said repairs were complete and the runway had reopened. The agency said crews used ground-penetrating radar to inspect LaGuardia’s airfield pavement and proactively repaired areas of concern before restoring operations. Friday’s reopening ended the immediate closure, but it did not erase the backlog. (qns.com) The Port Authority said LaGuardia stayed open during the outage, though reduced capacity affected flight operations and passengers should expect residual delays. ### How big was the travel crunch heading into the holiday? The Port Authority said on May 18 that about 5.6 million travelers were expected to use its airports and vehicular crossings during the five-day Memorial Day travel period from Thursday, May 21, through Monday, May 25. (qns.com) The agency said Friday and Monday were expected to be the busiest days at area airports. LaGuardia entered that stretch with only one runway available for part of the period. QNS reported that hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed while crews worked on the airfield, and said heavy rain in Queens on Wednesday night hampered repairs. ### What did the FAA say about delays? The FAA said it was slowing flights into LaGuardia because of weather and the sinkhole on Runway 4/22, according to the statement quoted by QNS. (panynj.gov) The agency directed travelers to its flight-status site for real-time delay information and said passengers should contact the airport about repair work. As of the FAA’s latest LaGuardia status update early Sunday, May 24, the airport was reporting gate-hold and taxi delays of 15 minutes or less for departures and airborne delays of 15 minutes or less for arrivals. (qns.com) The FAA said no destination-specific delays were being reported at that update. ### What were travelers told to do? The Port Authority told travelers to check flight status with their airlines as operations normalized. (qns.com) The FAA’s airport-status page also says its information is general, not flight-specific, and advises passengers to confirm directly with carriers whether individual flights are affected. Patch’s Astoria-Long Island City site separately highlighted the runway closure as a local headline during the Memorial Day buildup, reflecting how the disruption became part of the region’s broader holiday travel picture. (fly.faa.gov) ### What happens next at LaGuardia? The Port Authority said Friday that its investigation into the cause of the sinkhole is ongoing. The next practical marker for travelers is Monday, May 25, the last day of the Port Authority’s five-day Memorial Day travel window, while the FAA continues to post LaGuardia’s current delay status and airlines update individual rebookings and departures. (qns.com) (patch.com)