United Airlines cancels flights at Newark Airport as FAA blames equipment, staffing shortages for delays
United Airlines says it will cancel 35 flights per day from its Newark schedule starting this weekend, after its CEO Scott Kirby said in a letter the equipment failures led to 20% of air traffic controllers walking off the job as "long-simmering FAA challenges boiled over."
Kirby warned "Newark Airport cannot handle the number of places that are scheduled to operate there in the weeks and months ahead."
Newark Liberty International Airport has dealt with at least 800 delays and 150 cancellations since Tuesday, according to FlightAware.com.
FAA blames equipment issues, construction, staffing shortages
Another day of delays at Newark travelers on Friday, continuing a week-long wave of late flights.
A Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson blamed the problems on equipment issues, runway construction and staffing shortages in Philadelphia, where the traffic control center overseeing Newark's airspace is located.
Sources familiar with the problem told CBS News a group of air traffic controllers repeatedly called out of work this week after equipment outages Monday.
"They're frustrated. They're angry about having to use this old equipment. And they should be. They should be angry," U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
The technology issue involved telecommunications lines and the system that allows controllers to see aircraft on their screen, the sources said. The outages lasted less than two minutes, the FAA said.
Many flights out of Newark were delayed for at least one hour Friday. Others were running close to two hours or even three hours late.
Flights were delayed by as much as five hours Thursday, as the tarmac became packed with lines of planes waiting to depart. The FAA issued a full ground stop at one point, which slowed traffic in and out of the airport.
The arrivals and departures board continues to show delays.
Next week, Duffy is expected to announce a plan for revamping airport infrastructure and equipment.
"I'm coming out with a plan that's gonna build a brand new air traffic control system, state of the art, gold plated, envy of the world, touching every phase of the systems that air traffic controllers use. We're gonna lay fiber, we're gonna get new radar, new radios, new ground sensors," Duffy said.
Air space is safe in the meantime, the FAA said. The runway construction is not expected to finish until mid-June.
Newark flight delays send travelers scrambling
Passengers have been scrambling to get rebooked on flights and wondering how they're going to get home. One family missed their connecting flight to Rome and had to wait until the next day.
"Definitely putting a damper on me right now," traveler Henry Adamson told CBS News New York overnight.
"Before I came to the airport, the delay was already by four hours. Then, as soon as we got here, I'm seeing it's another two hours. And I don't know if it's going to be delayed even more," traveler Elmer Beltran said.
Another flight that was scheduled to depart at 7 a.m. Friday was pushed back to noon. The airport had almost three dozen delays on the board at the time.
"This morning is fine, but our son had a United flight, was supposed to leave here at 4:00 yesterday, canceled it at 11:00 in the morning. So we scrambled to Philly to get him on the 3:00 flight," said one traveler Friday morning.
"We tried to get here earlier than normal, just so we would know if we were going to be delayed or anything," another traveler said. "I think I always kind of feel now like I could show up and my flight's canceled or delayed."
One group headed to Italy worried the delays would impact their trip after months of planning.
"Girls' trip to Italy, so we're really looking forward to it, but certainly if it's a big delay, we're going to be in trouble when we get to Lisbon," Jo Overly, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, said. "We only have an hour and a half in Lisbon to take our flight to Florence."
"So far, so good. Or we'll sit at the bar for a few hours," said Teresa Kirk, also from Lancaster.
Janet Mullins' flight into Newark from Myrtle Beach was delayed by three hours, so she missed her connecting flight to Ireland, a vacation she had planned for months with her daughters.
"I had to pay a no-show fee to Aer Lingus for $200 on top of, now I have to book a hotel room for tonight," Mullins said.
Some flyers, like Mullins, are now considering other New York area airports.
"Absolutely, and I'm from New Jersey. And I hate Newark Airport," she said.
