NEW YORK CITY-Spend $5 billion to $10 billion now to upgrade and expand the region’s major airports, or lose far more than that per year in wages and business sales. That’s the choice presented in a report sponsored by the Regional Plan Association and the Better Airports Alliance. The report, issued Thursday, was the focal point of a conference held here in conjunction with its release.

“The crucial link between air travel and economic prosperity is threatened by a lack of adequate capacity in our aviation system,” RPA president Robert Yaro says in a statement. “We need to start planning now for future growth. The cost of building airport capacity, while significant, must be weighed against the even greater toll on the region’s economy if we do nothing.”

Titled “Upgrading to World Class: The Future of the Regions Airports,” the report calls for the implementation of NextGen, a proposed nationwide air traffic control system, and planning now for the eventual expansion and/or reconfiguration of John F. Kennedy International and Newark Liberty International airports. It’s endorsed by industry and civic leaders who figure prominently in the Better Airports Alliance, among them William Rudin, vice chairman and CEO of Rudin Management as well as chairman of the Association for a Better New York; Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City; and Richard T. Anderson, president of the New York Building Congress.

Rudin and Jonathan Tisch, chairman and CEO of Loews Hotels Corp., made the case for airport expansion in a guest column that appeared in Crain’s New York Business this past December. “Over 100 million passengers a year move through John F. Kennedy International, La Guardia and Newark airports, which handle a third of the nation's flights,” Rudin and Tisch wrote. “Our airports, however, were not built to meet this demand and now rank as the worst nationally in delays. According to the Partnership for New York City, costs to the regional economy from flight delays caused by congestion at our three major airports totaled more than $2.6 billion in 2008 and will reach $79 billion by 2025.”

By 2030, the RPA report states, the effects could be even more dire. It projects that the region could lose 125,000 jobs, $6 billion in wages and $16 billion in business sales annually if the airports’ congestion continues unchecked.

To avoid these consequences, RPA proposes two goals: meeting a projected demand of 150 million passengers by 2030, and reducing average delays from 20 minutes to the national norm of 10 minutes. In order to achieve these goals, the region will need to expand capacity by 78 additional peak hour flights to 314 hourly flights, says RPA.

The report does not say that upgrading the airports will be easy. It identifies four scenarios for expanding Kennedy Airport, but points out that three of them would entail filling in part of federally protected Jamaica Bay. Reconfiguring Newark Airport would entail relocating at least one of its three terminals. Expanding LaGuardia’s runway capacity is not feasible, the report states.

Adding capacity to outlying facilities such as MacArthur Airport on Long Island and Stewart International Airport near Newburgh, NY, could be helpful, along with implementing higher-speed inter-city rail service and making regulatory changes, the report states. Moreover, NexGen technologies can help stave off further delays for the next five to 10 years. However, the report says, only expanding the airports will meet growing demand.