Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and American Airlines have all stated that they will reduce flights in the New York City area this summer due to a shortage of air traffic controllers in the region, which is one of the busiest in the country.
Following U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) instructions on the controller shortage, the three airlines may restrict flights at New York JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark airports by up to 10% this summer. None of the carriers have yet deleted the flights from their itineraries, but all have stated that they will do so following a meeting on the subject convened by the FAA on March 29.
“We need to reduce flying and make sure we can operate with what we’ve got,” JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said on March 29 in New York.
The FAA stated earlier in March that it anticipates air traffic controller staffing to be only about 54% of essential levels in the New York area, and approximately 81 percent nationally. In addition, without airline flight reductions at JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark, approximately 45 percent of all flights into and out of the region could be delayed.
The FAA’s staffing crisis is not new. Delta CEO Ed Bastian cited air traffic control as the most “stressed” component of the aviation ecosystem at the time last June. A few weeks later, United executives reiterated that sentiment. Part of the difficulty is the three-year training period for new air traffic controllers, as well as the fact that the FAA ceased training during the pandemic, despite an already low workforce.
The FAA is also under increased scrutiny for its air traffic control operations following a spate of near misses at airports across the country. Planes have narrowly escaped colliding in recent months at airports in Austin, Boston, and New York, to mention a few. It is unclear how many of these near-misses are due to air traffic control or pilot mistake.
To alleviate congestion, the FAA has taken the unprecedented step of allowing airlines to idle up to 10% of their slots at JFK and LaGuardia, as well as runway timings at Newark, from May 15 to September 15. Each takeoff and landing requires one slot or runway timing, and airlines are normally obligated to use each 80 percent of the time. The waiver granted by the FAA also applies to slots at Washington’s Reagan National Airport.
The FAA must receive waiver requests from airlines by April 30.
According to Diio by Cirium schedules, Delta, United, and JetBlue are the three largest airlines by departures at the three New York-area airports combined. From May to September, they operate 69 percent of all departures from JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark. A 10% reduction in departures by all three airlines would result in a 7% decline at the airports overall.
American Airlines, the fourth largest carrier in the New York area, announced Monday that it will “temporarily reduce frequencies on select routes” between LaGuardia and Newark.