New York's JFK International Airport already has the reputation as being one of the world's busiest airports and one of the most delay-plagued too. The closure of the airport's main runway begins in March and will last four months. Even if you're not flying to or from JFK Airport, your flight could still be affected.

Approximately one-third of all traffic at JFK will be spread over three smaller runways, causing planes to wait in longer queues for takeoffs and longer in the air for landings. If you thought this was a normal occurrence at the airport, you're half right. JFK ranked 28th out of the 31 largest U.S. airports in on-time performance in 2009. It has consistently been one of the most delay-prone in the country. Part of this can be attributed to the fact that it is one of 3 major airports (LaGuardia and Newark International the others) around New York City which is quite a handful for air traffic controllers. JFK also processes the largest number of international passenger and cargo traffic in the region. Take out the largest runway – one that could land the Space Shuttle in an emergency – and you can see how even a "normal" day at JFK can be outdone.

So what if you're not flying into or out of JFK? The most popular flights at the airport are to and from the U.S. west coast (Los Angeles, San Francisco) and across the Atlantic to Europe. Delays at JFK could affect millions of travelers beyond the New York City area. Airlines have been preparing for this closure by reducing the number of flights, especially at peak hours, and this has resulted in a 10 per cent drop in available seats. You know what happens when customers compete for a dwindling number of spaces on a flight, right? Don't be surprised if prices go up. Airlines are also padding their schedules to account for possible delays resulting in a longer journey that magically still arrives on time. That's if all goes well. Weather always plays havoc with airports like JFK and authorities planned the closure from March through June to avoid the months with the most severe weather.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) anticipates that delays will range from 30 to 50 minutes barring other problems such as bad weather. The runway will be re-paved and strengthened to handle larger, heavier aircraft. So why close the runway for 4 months? Airport officials say that the alternative was worse. It would have slowed traffic on the runway due to intermittent construction for the next 2 to 3 years.