Lack Of Air Traffic Controllers Slows Flights In Newark: Report

NEWARK, NJ — A lack of air traffic controllers temporarily slowed down flights at Newark Airport in New Jersey on Monday evening, a report says.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it “briefly slowed” flights in and out of Newark due to “air traffic controller staffing issues at the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (N90). JFK and La Guardia airports were unaffected, CBS News reported.

Newark Airport has seen frustrating delays in recent years due to a lack of air traffic controllers.

Last December, U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) paid a visit to the busy airport’s control tower to sound an alarm about the problem. The situation is so dire that at control towers for Newark, JFK and La Guardia airports, staffing is at just 54 percent — more than 30 percent below the minimum, the congressman said.

According to Gottheimer, it can take more than three years to train a single controller. During the pandemic, a training hiatus caused a backlog that the nation is just starting to catch up to.

“On top of that, veteran controllers are leaving the FAA in significant numbers,” Gottheimer continued. “The result is a serious shortage of air traffic controllers at towers across the country, including at critical facilities like here in Newark.”

• See Related: Shortage Of Air Traffic Controllers In Newark Earns Lawmaker's Wrath

In March, federal authorities announced plans to transfer control of the airspace in the Newark area to Philadelphia, Reuters reported.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) signed a memorandum with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association to relocate control of Newark at New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) (N90) to Philadelphia Tower/TRACON by the end of June, Reuters reported.

• See Related: Feds Will Move Newark Air Traffic Control To Philadelphia

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