United says buckle up: Newark air traffic woes won't be fixed anytime soon
www.usatoday.com

... Travelers flying to, from or through Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) have faced days of delays and cancellations due to air traffic control staffing issues and equipment failures.

Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, which has a major hub at the airport, warned the problem doesn't seem like it's going to be resolved any time soon.

"There is no way to resolve the near-term structural FAA staffing issues," he said in a letter to customers released Friday evening.

According to flight-tracking website FlightAware, Monday is starting off with Newark atop the list for delays and cancellations in the U.S., with 42 flights or 8% of departures canceled before 9:45 a.m. ET.

While that's not as bad as some days last week, it's not a great sign for travelers ahead of the summer rush.

Air Traffic Control staffing has been an issue in the U.S. for years. In a press conference last Thursday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy acknowledged that nationwide, the Federal Aviation Administration is short about 3,000 air traffic controllers. He said the DOT is working to boost hiring through a variety of initiatives, and to incentivize current controllers to avoid early retirement.

Still, Duffy acknowledged, the issue can't be resolved overnight.

"We're hoping in three to four years we can get to full staffing, not 20 years," he said. "How do you make up the gap? We can't snap our fingers to make up the numbers."

The problem has been particularly acute in New York City's airspace, and the FAA has required airlines to reduce the number of flights to the metro. Beyond the capacity caps, there haven't been other significant issues telegraphed at the city's other two major airports so far this spring.

The agency also tried to address the issue partly by relocating some Newark controllers from a facility in New York to one in Philadelphia last year, but that came with its own array of issues, including ongoing equipment problems.

"These challenges are not new to Newark. United has been urging the US government for *years* to use its authority to effectively limit the number of flights to what the airport can realistically handle," Kirby said in his letter. "Past failure to make those changes had led to the circumstances that United and, most importantly, our customers now face."

Other major airports in New York -- JFK and LaGuardia, are both slot controlled. United said it is voluntarily reducing its schedule at Newark, canceling 35 round-trip flights per day, to try to hedge against further disruptions. ...