Question:

Why when I went to JFK airport, was there such a long line to depart?

Video Gamer on Existential.com - 2007-04-29 16:53:27 - Aircraft

Why did it take 1 1/2 hours just to leave the gate and another hour waiting in line to depart only 1 runway, 31L. It was around 7:00PM. Why couldn't of they used 31R. Why did all the planes make a left turn after they departed?

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I'll try to answer in order: 1) They want to leave the gate on time, both to bolster "on-time departure" numbers and to free up the gate for incoming flights. 2) They use one runway for departures and one for arrivals. It helps keep one airliner from landing on another one. 3) You noted that you departed on 31L. The left turn was probably taken to clear the airspace at the end of the runways, in case somebody attempting to land on 31R had to make a go-around -- then you wouldn't be drifting into each other.

aerocent is correct except for the last part, in that, most of the airspace over new york city is restricted... and they figure getting the airplane out over the water, as would be the case with a left turn out of 31L, gets them away from the city... Its one of the many published departure procedures for JFK... They probobly only used one runway for departures because they needed one of them for landings... The long taxi's are common in airports like JFK... airplanes cant take off right after one another becasue of something called wake turbulance, which is bumpy air as a result of another airplane going through it... the required spacing gets bigger with the bigger airplane size...

Let me add onto what everyone else has said. JFK has a lot of international flights which use big aircraft. Aircraft generate vortices (like mini tornadoes) when they take-off. Therefore you need a some time and distance between airline take-offs. 7:00 p.m. is around peak time for departures because that is when a lot of the international flights depart. When everyone wants to leave at the same time, it causes a back-up for departures. The runway probably did not have enough room for everyone. As for why the plane banked left after take-off, part of the reason is because the traffic corridor you left from which is the JFK, LaGuardia and Newark-Liberty area is the most heavily congested airspace in the world. Depending on wind conditions and what directions planes take-off, they have to make a left or right turn so they do not run into aircraft taking off or landing from LaGuardia and Newark.