Shortage of air traffic controllers: Airlines slash their flights out of New York and Washington

To meet the Federal Aviation Administration FAA’s requirements, a number of airlines have slashed their flights out of New York and Washington.

According to reports, American Airlines will be cutting 4,790 flights to or from JFK, LaGuardia and Reagan National, as well as Newark Liberty International Airport, between May 1 and September 30.

United Airlines has announced a reduction of 4,353 flights between New York and Washington, while JetBlue is cutting 3,565 flights at the affected airports.

Delta is also reducing its services, with 1,983 flights between New York and Washington set to be cut. Southwest Airlines has not made any cuts to its schedule, but it could cut some flights later.

These changes are needed because the U.S. has a shortage of air-traffic controllers. The federal agency is taking steps to fix those issues in the long term.

“The FAA is taking several steps to keep air travel to and from New York City this summer safe and smooth, even as we see strong domestic demand and a return of pre-pandemic international traffic,” the agency said in a news release.

“To help prevent disruptions, the agency will give airlines flexibility on slot usage requirements. In turn, the FAA expects airlines to take actions minimizing impacts on passengers, including operating larger aircraft to transport more passengers and making sure passengers are fully informed about any possible disruptions.” Basically, the federal agency has given the airlines more flexibility around their allotted slots at airports in exchange for a cut in overall flights leaving from the three airports.

The FAA held a New York airspace summit with airlines and others to discuss additional ways to improve the country’s most complex and congested airspace in late March. It was “similar to the one hosted in Florida last year that resulted in measures to improve efficiency in another high-demand area,” the agency shared.

“Although the FAA continues to reduce the air traffic controller training backlog at many FAA air traffic facilities, staffing levels at the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (N90) continue to be below targets,” the FAA said.

“To maintain safety and meet demand, the agency later this year will reassign the approximately 100 square miles of Newark airspace from N90 to the Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control.”

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