The FAA cites a shortage of air traffic controllers at one of the nation’s biggest airports as the reason for the flight distruptions.
For the eighth straight day, passengers with flights to or from Newark Liberty International Airport encountered long delays and cancellations because of short staffing in the FAA control tower.
Faulting the Federal Aviation Administration’s alleged failure to address “long-simmering” challenges related to the air-traffic control system, United Airlines cut 35 daily flights from its Newark schedule starting Saturday.
On Monday, flight delays and cancellations were impacting these flights from Charlotte to Newark, according to flight-tracking website Flight Aware:
Additionally, these flights from Newark to Charlotte were impacted by the FAA short staffing:
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With the FAA saying that staff shortage could delay flights an average of four hours, additional flights could be impacted throughout the day.
This is the eighth straight day of such impacts in Newark, with additional flights into and out of Charlotte being canceled on the previous days.
“This particular air traffic control facility has been chronically understaffed for years and without these controllers, it’s now clear — and the FAA tells us — that Newark airport cannot handle the number of planes that are scheduled to operate there in the weeks and months ahead,” United CEO Scott Kirby wrote in a letter to customers.
United Airlines operates the most flights out of Newark by far, and 35 flights represents about 10% of the round-trip domestic schedule operated by the carrier and its regional United Express network, according to information on the company’s website.
Newark Liberty International Airport pointed to both staffing issues and “construction” when it warned travelers about delays on Thursday.
Newark is one of three major airports serving the New York City metropolitan area. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, spoke about the delays and staffing issues on Monday.
The Trump administration says it’s been trying to “supercharge” the air traffic controller workforce and make moves to address the nation’s shortage of controllers. The U.S. transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, on Thursday announced a program to recruit new controllers and give existing ones incentives not to retire.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, a workers’ union, said at the time that those moves could help address staffing shortages, but it also said the system is “long overdue for technology and infrastructure upgrades.”
Duffy said on Friday that he visited with “our hard working air traffic controllers as we work to fix these equipment outages caused by outdated technology.”
United’s decision to pare back its flight schedule in Newark come at an already uncertain time for U.S. airlines. Potential customers across the industry are reconsidering whether to fly for work or for vacation given all the unknowns about what President Donald Trump’s trade war will do to the economy.
Uncertainty is so high that United recently made the unusual move to offer two separate forecasts for how it could perform financially this year: one if there were a recession, and one if not.
From Newark, United flies to 76 U.S. cities and 81 international destinations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
