According to United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, flyers should avoid booking flights originating or departing from New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). He noted the routine cancellation of around 30 daily flights, citing safety concerns as the primary reason to fly elsewhere. The nearby New York-based airports, John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport, are two alternatives that flyers can choose for their travels.
Delays and Canceled Flights Plague EWR
After a week of significant delays, even an air traffic controller pointed out to NBC News that flying to and from Newark isn’t safe. News correspondent Tom Costello recalled his conversation with the anonymous air traffic controller, who said, “Don’t fly into Newark. Avoid Newark at all costs.”
Meanwhile, Kirby explained that the New Jersey airport “cannot handle the number of planes that are scheduled to operate there in the weeks and months ahead.”
The Customers Come First
First and foremost, Kirby is concerned for his customers. In a letter to United flyers, he noted that there was “no other choice to protect our customers.”
While much criticism is lobbed at the airport, a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokesperson blamed the issues on staffing shortages and the air traffic system.
The representative told the US Sun, “We continue to urge the FAA to address ongoing staffing shortages and accelerate long-overdue technology upgrades that continue to cause delays in the nation’s busiest air corridor.”
Outdated Technology Prevents an Easy Fix
Thirty canceled flights may seem like a drop in the bucket, given the airport’s typical 1,000 daily round-trip flights. Still, professionals are expressing concerns that they’re not seeing on this level at other airports.
Kirby added, “Technology that FAA air traffic controllers rely on to manage the airplanes coming in and out of Newark airport failed, resulting in dozens of diverted flights, hundreds of delayed and canceled flights, and worst of all, thousands of customers with disrupted travel plans.”
On top of the impacted travel, an April 28th instance of air traffic controllers losing radar and audio communications for approximately a minute and 30 seconds was more concerning. Given the uptick in plane crashes, a blip like that could distinguish between a plane landing safely and a tragedy.
The Federal Aviation Administration recently reported a ground stop at Newark caused by low ceilings when a cloud layer got too close to the ground.
Kirby addressed the alleged issues that Newark Liberty has posed for years, stating, “For many years, United has been very clear and vocal about the need to fix the Air Traffic Control system in EWR.”
Limited FAA Controllers Compound the Issue
Kirby did praise the continued efforts to fix the FAA while acknowledging the flaws that came to a head in the first week of May. Kirby raised the lack of FAA controllers on the job: “Unfortunately, the technology issues were compounded as over 20% of the FAA controllers for EWR walked off the job.”
Kirby said that United canceled the 30+ round-trip flights daily due to these conditions.
In a news conference, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also voiced concerns about the “cracks in the system” and cited the EWR system as “Incredibly old.”
Speaking of those outdated tools, he called the use of floppy disks and copper wires “not effective to control the traffic that we have in the airspace today.”
A lack of air traffic controllers has played a significant role in these conditions, with Duffy pointing out the national shortage of approximately 3,000 air traffic controllers. Yet until these issues are addressed, many experts in the aviation field are urging customers to book their flights elsewhere.
