Major delays at Newark Airport while FAA cites endowment problems in terms of air traffic control | US News

The flight delays continued on Sunday when a major crisis seized one of the largest airports in the United States in the midst of air security fears.

On Sunday morning, there were 210 delays and 88 cancellations at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) in New Jersey, according to Flightaware. The big airport is one of the main hubs in New York and its surroundings.

The slowdown in the weekend in operations intervened after United Airlines announced on Friday that it cancels 35 daily round trips from Newark due to bad technology problems and staff surrounding the Federal Aviation Administration.

Friday, in a press release, the CEO of United Airlines, Scott Kirby, said: “For many years, United was very clear and expressed on the need to repair the air traffic control system in EWR. Although we support in enthusiasm the current efforts to permanently and structurally repair the FAA, the long -time FAA has been defying for a long time that the FAA is defying this week. ”

“In the past few days, on several occasions, the technology on which Air Controllers of the FAA are counting to manage the planes that enter and leave Newark airport failed-which led to dozens of diverted flights, hundreds of delayed and canceled flights and the worst of all, thousands of customers with disturbed travel plans,” he said.

Kirby continued by saying that technology problems at the airport were aggravated after more than 20% of FAA controllers for EWR would have left the position.

“Keep in mind that this particular air traffic control installation has been in chronic under-effective for years and without these controllers, it is now clear-and the FAA tells us-that Newark Airport cannot manage the number of planes that should work there in the weeks and months to come,” he added.

Explaining the cuts that arise to a “already reduced calendar in Newark”, Kirby said that the airline had no choice but to cancel thefts because there is “no way to solve the short -term structural endowment problems”.

He also said that United Airlines has been urging the government for years to limit the number of flights “to the airport can manage in a realistic manner”.

Meanwhile, addressing the MSNBC correspondent Tom Costello, an air traffic controller said he was not sure to get out of Newark. “He said,” It’s not sure. This is not a safe situation at the moment for the flying audience “”, said Costello at Daily Beast, adding: “He just said that and separately:” Do not fly to Newark. Avoid Newark at all costs. “”

According to the FAA, delays are caused by a shortage of air controllers. While Donald Trump’s administration is continuing its mass federal dismissals, including FAA security workers, despite a multitude of fatal accidents since the day of the inauguration, the Secretary of Transport Sean Duffy has expressed more people to become air controllers.

DUFFY said Thursday at a press conference that the transport service sought to increase employment at the FAA, aimed at hiring at least 2,000 controllers this year.

“We hope that in three to four years, we will be able to go to a complete endowment, not 20 years,” said Duffy, adding: “How do you fight the gap? We can’t get fingers to invent the figures.”

The transport service offers a series of incentives, including a 30% salary increase for new hires as well as a bonus of $ 5,000 at the end of the flight academy. The Department also offers a price of $ 10,000 for graduates of academies who are assigned to one of the 13 aerial installations that are difficult to count.

The new campaign to hire more air traffic controllers comes only a few months after the American president said that democrats and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) were responsible for the fall in aviation standards and the Washington DC fatal plane accident in January who killed 67 people.

Following a series of fatal flight accidents, a February survey revealed that the confidence of the Americans in aviation slipped, with 64% of Americans said they thought that plane trips were very or somewhat safe – a decrease of 71% of the Americans who indicated it last year.