By Alexandra Skores, Aaron Cooper, CNN
Washington (CNN) — Airlines will meet with the Federal Aviation Administration Wednesday to address weeks of delays at Newark Liberty International Airport following air traffic control staffing and equipment issues.
The “delay reduction meeting” at the Department of Transportation was announced by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
“The goal is to have a manageable number of flights land at Newark,” he told reporters at a news conference Monday. “Families shouldn’t have to wait four or five hours for a flight that never takes off.”
It comes after more than two weeks of delays and cancellations prompted by air traffic control staffing shortages at a Philadelphia facility that handles flights headed to or from the airport, runway construction and congestion.
Thirty-eight certified professional controllers are needed to operate the facility that handles Newark traffic, yet only 24 of the positions – 63% – are currently filled, the FAA notes in the meeting announcement.
Sixteen of those controllers are due to return to a New York FAA facility next year.
Additionally, five controllers took a 45-day trauma leave after an outage on April 28 caused their radar screens to go blank for 90 seconds and their radios to go out for 30 seconds during the busy afternoon.
Since runway construction started on April 15, Newark airport saw an average of 34 cancelations per day and “consistently high” delayed arrivals with an average delay time at 5 p.m. of 137 minutes.
“EWR is unacceptably congested airport due to current circumstances,” the FAA said in the meeting notice. “The airport clearly is unable to handle the current level of scheduled operations.”
Each airline will be asked to offer “specific flight reductions or schedule modifications” that are not contingent on what other airlines do, the notice said. The FAA will then consider an order which could limit schedules at the airport.
Chicago-based United Airlines, which operates a hub at Newark, recently called for assigned “slots” at the airport, which would require government approval for flights.
In the meeting notice, the FAA proposed limiting flights to only 28 domestic airline arrivals and 28 departures per hour until runway construction is complete on June 15, and during weekends in the fall. During other times, 34 domestic airline arrivals and 34 departures would be allowed each hour at the airport.
International air operations will be managed through a different process.
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