United Airlines has decided to cut around 35 daily round-trip flights from its Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) hub. The move comes in response to severe air traffic control staffing shortages and the recent ATC equipment failures.
According to United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby’s letter, critical technology used by FAA air traffic controllers at Newark Liberty International Airport has repeatedly failed, leading to widespread disruptions. The outages resulted in dozens of flight diversions, hundreds of delays and cancelations, and travel chaos for thousands of passengers. Compounding the crisis, more than 20% of the air traffic controllers assigned to Newark walked off the job. Therefore, United Airlines is cutting 35 daily round-trip flights, representing approximately 10% of its EWR operations.
“Keep in mind, this particular air traffic control facility has been chronically understaffed for years, and without these controllers, it is 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,” Kirby wrote.
“It’s disappointing to make further cuts to an already reduced schedule at Newark, but since there is no way to resolve the near-term structural FAA staffing issues, we feel like there is no other choice in order to protect our customers,” the CEO explained.
Newark Liberty International Airport has been grappling with severe operational disruptions causing widespread flight delays last week. Issues began on April 28, when critical equipment failures at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) led United Airlines to cancel more than 100 flights and divert 37 others. The ATC issues stemmed from malfunctions in telecommunications and radar equipment at the Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), which manages air traffic for Newark Airport. The FAA also acknowledged that staffing shortages at TRACON played a role in the flight disruption at EWR.
