CEO: United to cancel 35 daily roundtrip flights at Newark Liberty due to air traffic controller shortage
The CEO says that he has spoken to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about the issues.
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The CEO of United Airlines says that the air traffic controller shortage at Newark Liberty International Airport has reached a boiling point and has made the decision to cancel dozens of daily round-trip flights as a result.
The decision comes as Newark Liberty experienced several days of delays and cancellations due to runway construction and equipment issues.
“In the past few days, on more than one occasion, technology that FAA air traffic controllers rely on to manage the airplanes coming in and out of Newark airport failed,” CEO Scott Kirby wrote in a letter to customers. “Unfortunately, the technology issues were compounded as over 20% of the FAA controllers for EWR walked off the job.”
RELATED: Delays continue Friday at Newark Liberty due to construction, staffing issues
Kirby’s message continued, “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.”
Kirby announced that United has made the decision to cancel 35 round-trip flights per day at the airport starting this weekend.
“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,” Kirby wrote.
The CEO says that he has spoken to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about the issues.
“We’re pleased that the new administration has put together a proposal for a large, systemwide investment in FAA technology, infrastructure and staffing,” Kirby wrote.
Kirby says that Newark Liberty takes United customers to 76 different U.S. cities and 81 international destinations.
