Delays and cancellations caused by staffing shortages and infrastructure failures continued to disrupt travelers at Newark Liberty International Airport on Tuesday.
In announcing a ground delay that averaged two hours, 41 minutes, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said some air traffic controllers were taking time off following recent outages, the Washington Examiner reported.
The media outlet added that besides one runway being closed for construction, the airport lost 20% of its air traffic control staff when they walked off to protest staffing shortages that resulted in burnout.
The delay, to remain through midnight, marked the ninth straight day of significant disruptions.
The New York Daily News reported more than 150 flights into and out of Newark were canceled as of midday Monday, and nearly 300 were delayed, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. On Tuesday, there had been 102 cancellations and 200 delays as of noon.
The Daily News added that inbound flights contending with low cloud cover and ongoing air traffic control issues were delayed as much as four hours.
On Saturday, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said the technology used to manage planes at the New Jersey airport failed more than once in recent days. The flight delays, cancellations and diversions the equipment problems caused were compounded when more than one-fifth of Newark's air traffic controllers "walked off the job," he said.
United announced it had cut 35 daily flights from its Newark schedule.
The trouble at Newark started April 28, when sources told the Daily News two separate air traffic control systems failed in the early afternoon.
On Monday night, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he and President Donald Trump were "going to radically transform air traffic control. That means building a brand new system that is the envy of the world."
"It's no secret our air traffic control system is antiquated," Duffy posted Monday night on X.
"The last administration didn't lift a finger to fix it. We're working day and night to overhaul it."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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