United Airlines said Tuesday that an acute shortage of air traffic controllers was causing “significant disruption” for travelers at its busy Newark, NJ, hub outside of Recent York City.
The airline said the Federal Aviation Administration has been forced to cut back traffic flows to Newark hub due to low staffing on 12 of the primary 25 days of November, disrupting greater than 343,000 United travelers by delays, cancellations, long taxi times and longer flight times related to air traffic control delays for Newark.
United said that on Nov. 15 alone, air traffic control staffing issues resulted in canceled flights that disrupted 1,880 customers; gate and other delays disrupted a further 24,558.
The FAA said in “the Newark airspace, the FAA is addressing a decades-long issue of staffing and has been transparent with airlines and travelers about our plan.”
United’s comments come as a record-setting Thanksgiving holiday air-travel period is starting.
“Because of this it continues to be imperative for FAA to rebuild staffing levels so travelers can rely on protected, efficient air travel,” United said.
During the last two years, a series of near-miss incidents has raised concerns about US aviation safety and the strain on understaffed air traffic control operations. The FAA said last month it was opening an audit into runway incursion risks on the 45 busiest US airports after a series of near-miss incidents.
The FAA required 17 air traffic controllers to maneuver from Recent York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), often known as N90, to Philadelphia in late July. Recent York TRACON is considered one of the busiest US facilities.
FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker told reporters last week the move allowed the agency “to alleviate the stress in Recent York and improve controller staffing levels by recruiting and training controllers in Philadelphia.” Whitaker added that delays were down with the transfer of the airspace.
Lately, the FAA has been forced to routinely assign controllers six-day work weeks and slow air traffic within the Recent York area.
The FAA is about 3,000 controllers behind staffing targets and the agency said last yr it had 10,700 certified controllers, concerning the same as a yr earlier.
The FAA in June prolonged cuts to minimum flight requirements at congested Recent York City-area airports through October 2025, saying the variety of controllers handling traffic in Recent York was insufficient for normal traffic levels.
