The Federal Aviation Administration has confirmed that flights in and out of Newark Liberty International airport will be cut significantly.
From Sept. 1, just 28 flights will be permitted to arrive and depart from the airport every hour on weekends. The airport has been plagued with construction, tech, and staffing issues this year.
During normal operating hours, 34 arrivals and departures every hour will be the maximum operating capacity from Oct. 25, the FAA said in a statement.
“The confirmed reduced rates will maintain safety while alleviating excessive flight delays at the airport due to staffing and equipment challenges,” the FAA said.
The decline is a sharp drop of 30 percent in carrying capacity from the normal 40 or more departures and arrivals the airport was built to handle. Newark is operating on just two runways following the closure of the third in April after the FAA deemed it unsafe, ordering a $121 million repair project.
It’s not the only issue however. Flights were temporarily slashed in May to ease staffing shortage issues when it was revealed that just three of the recommended 14 air traffic controllers were on duty during one particularly bad shift.
Equipment malfunctions and other tech issues have also hampered the beleaguered airport, with a series of glitches hitting at the end of April and the start of May. A 90-second radar blackout and other radio meltdowns have seen five air-traffic controllers take trauma leave while the airport was averaging 34 arrival cancellations per day.
Concerns have been raised by industry insiders that the airport is not safe to fly and that passengers should avoid using it. However, Transport Secretary Sean Duffy has rejected the claim. Instead, he has suggested that Congress has ignored aging infrastructure and that Newark is just a particularly bad example of what is happening “across the country.” “It has to be fixed,” he said.
In their statement today, the FAA have said they will “continue working with all stakeholders to ensure that the airport is a safe, efficient, and functional gateway for passengers and air carriers.”
