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United Airlines will cancel 35 daily round trips from Newark Liberty International Airport.
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CEO Scott Kirby cites the airport's inability to manage the planned flight volume.
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The decision comes after more than 20% of FAA staff have left the post.
United Airlines Cancels dozens of daily flights to Newark Liberty International Airport because the airport “cannot manage the number of planes” arrive and go out.
CEO Scott Kirby made this announcement on Friday, citing a shortage of personnel at airport air traffic control.
“Newark airport cannot manage the number of planes that should work there in the weeks and months to come,” Kirby told customers. “We think there is no other choice to protect our customers.”
Air traffic control problems have tormented Newark in recent weeks, causing major delays. In response, many airport workers have left work, exacerbating the problem.
“The technology on which the AIRIAN CONTRIBUTERS of the FAA count to manage the planes that enter and leave Newark airport have failed, which led to dozens of diverted flights, hundreds of delayed and canceled flights, and the worst of all, thousands of customers with disrupted travel plans,” Kirby told customers on Friday.
Kirby blamed an air traffic control installation “chronically underwent” and a lack of intervention as a deep cause.
The airline operates around 300 round-trip flights per day on average.
United, which operates as a major center there, has long pushed the government to reclassify Newark as “level 3” rustling, which would allow the FAA to limit the number of flights provided according to capacity and infrastructure constraints.
Several factors have contributed to the shortage of current air traffic controller in the United States. A 2023 report from the Ministry of Transport revealed that the FAA had always been faced with endowment challenges after the COVVI-19 pandemic forced a break on the training. The report indicates that the FAA “has no plan to resolve” the endowment problems, which “in turn poses a risk for the continuity of air traffic operations”.
Air traffic controllers are also difficult for staff because they have specific age requirements. The FAA requires that air traffic controllers retire when they are 56 years old, and the agency only accepts applications for people under 31.
In a call with American transport secretary Sean Duffy, Kirby, however, expressed his optimism: “We are delighted that the new administration has set up a significant investment proposal on the system level in FAA technology, infrastructure and staff,” he said.
Duffy said Thursday that FAA was in the process of hiring 2,000 new air traffic controllers this year. Its plan also includes monetary incentives of up to $ 10,000 for graduates of academies who are assigned to “difficult to face” air facilities. The proposal would also provide financial incentives to staff, would reward graduates of the Academy and increase the number of instructors.
“Today's actions will compensate for the workforce of the air traffic controller of retention and on the side of the hiring of the equation – bringing us a little bit of reversal of decades of dropping,” Duffy said in a statement.
Duffy added on X: “We are working to harden the system. But that is why it is essential that we are building a brand new air traffic control system.”
The CEO of United unveiled a three -point plan in March to reduce delays. The plan focused on investing in Staffing, technology and installationsafter the company announced that it Reduce your interior flight calendar by 4% in July.
Newark Liberty International Airport did not immediately respond to a request for comments to Business Insider.
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