Staffing Shortages Plague Newark Airport, Delaying Thousands of Flights

Strategic Insights -

A critical staffing shortage among air traffic controllers at Newark Liberty International Airport has led to chaos and widespread delays, with thousands of flights impacted in the past week alone. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is urging airlines to reduce flights in and out of the airport, citing a severe shortage of controllers. Despite employing about 14,000 controllers across the country, the FAA is unable to quickly fill empty slots at Newark, leaving controllers and managers to work excessive overtime and face burnout.

Key Takeaways:

  • The FAA is currently short about 3,000 controllers nationally, according to staffing standards developed in collaboration with its union.
  • Newark Airport is facing a unique staffing crisis, with only about 63 percent of its target number of fully certified controllers, due to a recent move of responsibility for the airport's airspace from a facility on Long Island to Philadelphia.
  • Certification times for air traffic controllers can take up to two years, with a process that includes classroom training, on-the-job training, performance evaluations, and checking out by a supervisor.
  • The FAA has been taking measures to cut certification times, including rolling out more simulators that can speed training times by up to 27 percent.
  • Despite offers of better training pay, bonuses, and payouts to experienced controllers who defer their retirement, the recruits will still face years of arduous training.
  • The FAA is convening airlines to reduce flights into and out of Newark Airport, with other fixes including technology upgrades, expected to take weeks or even months to complete.

Statistics:

  • Almost 90 flights in and out of Newark were canceled on Monday, with another 270 delayed, according to data service FlightAware.
  • The FAA is about 3,000 controllers short nationally.
  • Certification times can take up to two years.
  • The FAA is offering bonuses for new controllers.
  • Fallouts from the recent move of responsibility for the Newark airspace to Philadelphia still persist, with only about 63 percent of the target number of fully certified controllers at the TRACON facility.

Sources:

  • Ian Duncan, "The lack of just a dozen air traffic controllers has contributed to danger, chaos, and waves of delays and cancellations at Newark Liberty International Airport." The lack of just a dozen air traffic controllers has contributed to danger, chaos, and waves of delays and cancellations at Newark Liberty International Airport.
  • Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy cited "We don't have the ability to just snap our fingers and move controllers around."
  • Scott Dunham, a retired National Transportation Safety Board investigator, stated "There's endless pieces of detail you need to know."
  • Michael McCormick, a former FAA air traffic control official, explained "That's one position, then you have to do that for multiple positions."
  • The FAA cited that it will open a meeting with the airlines seeking to reduce the overall number of flights into the airport to a more manageable level on Wednesday.