By David Shepardson
(Reuters) -The Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday it is proposing to extend flight cuts at Newark, one of the three main airports serving the New York City-area, through October 2026 as it continues to face air traffic controller shortage and congestion issues.
In May, the FAA ordered flight cuts at New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport through the end of 2025 following a series of major disruptions at the United Airlines hub that snarled hundreds of flights and sparked alarm about the aging U.S. air traffic control system.
The FAA said on Friday the goal of the reduced flight rates is to “continue maintaining safety while alleviating flight delays due to staffing and equipment challenges, resulting in smoother travel into and out of Newark.”
Last month, the Transportation Department Office of Inspector General said it would investigate the FAA’s 2024 decision to relocate some Newark air traffic controllers to Philadelphia from New York to address staffing shortages and congested New York City-area airspace. The review came after two serious communications outages for air traffic controllers overseeing Newark’s airspace in April and May.
The FAA required 17 air traffic controllers to move from New York Terminal Radar Approach Control, known as N90, to Philadelphia in late July last year. New York TRACON is one of the busiest U.S. facilities. The FAA said “persistent low staffing levels and low training success rate” at N90 were among the reasons to move control of the Newark airspace in a bid to boost staffing levels and help ease congestion.
In July, the FAA extended cuts to minimum flight requirements at congested New York City airports through October 2026.
The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels. A series of near-miss incidents has raised safety concerns in recent years, while the persistent staffing shortage has delayed flights and forced controllers at many facilities to work mandatory overtime and six-day weeks.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler and Diane Craft)
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