Overview
- Port Authority inspectors found an approximately two‑inch depression adjacent to Runway 4/22 on Wednesday, prompting a 5 p.m. precautionary shutdown that the agency said posed no immediate safety threat.
- Flights were shifted to the airport’s only other runway, 13/31, and the FAA reported departures delayed about an hour while FlightAware data showed as many as 174 delayed movements.
- Port Authority crews conducted overnight testing and stabilization work to identify the cause and make repairs, and Runway 4/22 was returned to service Thursday morning.
- This closure is at least the third affecting that stretch of pavement in recent months, following a May sinkhole that forced a two‑day shutdown and a multi‑day closure after a March collision; the May sinkhole’s cause remains under investigation.
- Losing one of LaGuardia’s two runways sharply reduces airport capacity, increases the risk of broader delays for travelers, and is drawing renewed scrutiny of maintenance practices and contingency planning.