It has been a nightmare week for travelers at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). A combination of failures in air traffic control equipment and personnel scarcity have fed delays in mass flights, and has led the largest airport at the airport to cancel dozens of daily flights in the coming weeks.
The problems could continue affecting passengers as the busy summer travel season approaches.
Air traffic control concerns are re -emerged
Thousands of flights inside and outside EWR have been affected by interruptions in recent days. About half of all incoming planes to Newark faced delays only on Saturday, according to data from Flightware.
These interruptions occurred when FAA reported that the shortage of personnel in the air traffic control installation that governs Newark airspace, and after a week that saw a large number of technological interruptions in the agency.
The thunderstorms worsened this weekend, as well as the construction of the most busy runway in the airport for the exits, which It will be closed Until mid June.
Another 57 flights in Newark were canceled at the end of Sunday afternoon, according to Conscious flight.
United sends a letter to customers
Amid the assembly problems, the United Airlines CEO, Scott Kirby, wrote a letter For customers on Friday, announce the carrier, who has an important center in EWR, would cancel 35 daily trips of the airport’s round in the hope of avoiding more cascade problems.
In his letter on Friday, Kirby referred to the long shortage of air traffic control personnel that, which, which, which, TPG reported in FebruaryThey have the FAA, in the short term by thousands of fully certified controllers.
“Long -lasting FAA challenges wounded this week,” Kirby wrote, citing recent teams in teams and noting that 20% of the controllers “left work” in recent days.
Daily Bulletin
Reward your entrance tray with the TPG Diario Bulletin
Join more than 700,000 readers to receive news, in -depth guides and exclusive agreements of TPG experts
Neither the FAA nor the Union of Air Traffic Controllers of the Nation, contacted by TPG to comment on Sunday, elaborated that Kirby characterization.
The Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, has advocated reviewing the nation’s air traffic control infrastructure and increasing their controller hiring efforts.
“It’s unacceptable,” Duffy wrote on social networks on Friday about recent interruptions. “We are working to harden the system. But that is why it is essential that we build a new air traffic control system.
Newark interruptions persist
Meanwhile, what is clear is that Newark delays are not decreasing.
Beyond United schedule reductions, the airport saw that more than 600 departures face delays since Friday, after mass interruptions over the course of several days last week, according to Flightware.
On Sunday there was not much better, with the FAA projecting maximum delays of more than four hours, starting at 2 PM EDT, and the average delays that exceed two hours, due to the shortage of personnel, the agency reported.
“I wouldn’t classify it as insecure,” Michael McCormick, a 30 -year -old veteran of FAA, told TPG Sunday.
“However, it would be very frustrating for passengers with maximum arrival delays above four hours in Newark,” McCormick added, now at the Faculty of the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
United problems travel exemptions
United issued a travel advice That allowed passengers with reserved trips until Monday to make free changes, even in normally restrictive basic economy tickets, for flights through Newark and the other important airports in the region.
Travelers flying through the airport in the coming weeks must be attentive to similar notices that could allow additional flexibility to redirect or reserve during periods of maximum problems.
The storms wreak havoc on another part this weekend
In addition to an already messy weekend to travel, the stormy conditions in a large strip of the country fed almost 6,000 flight delays on Saturday, after the more than 8,200 flights were delayed on Friday, by Flightware.
The Houston George Bush (IAH) Intercontinental Airport, the Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) were among the busiest most affected centers.
Should you reserve flights to or from Newark?
Beyond this weekend, travelers will surely question whether they can count on and from Newark to leave and arrive in the coming months.
United certainly has its doubts: a great reason why the carrier decided to reduce his schedule at the airport, without a schedule on how long the elimination of almost three dozen daily flights will last.
“It is disappointing to make more cuts to a reduced schedule in Newark,” Kirby wrote on Friday. “But since there is no way to solve the problems of structural staff of the FAA in the short term, we feel that there is no other option to protect our customers.”
So what should customers do, in the midst of those concerns about Newark delays?
Choose a different connection airport
If you are reserving a flight in United and knows that you will have to make a connection somewhere, examine your options. If United offered me a connection in Newark, or an alternative itinerary routed through its Dulles International Airport (IAD) center near Washington, I would probably opt for the latter, at this time, if the price were comparable.
Proactively: uninterrupted and early flights
Yeah were I will fly through Newark at this time, I would plan proactively.
It would reserve the earliest departure of the day, which is much less likely to be affected by the storms. The stormy climate tends to exacerbate the obstacles of air traffic control personnel, since it complicates the departure and arrival schedule.
In fact, for that reason, selecting early flights in the morning is a good general rule during the maximum electric storm season, even if that means that its alarm sounds at dawn.
Specific for EWR, I would opt for non -scales flights outside the airport in the coming weeks so that, even if they delayed me one or two hours, I would not risk losing a connection flight in another city.
Reserve with a credit card that has travel insurance
Climate control staff and air traffic are factors that are generally considered “out of airline control”, which means that their airline would probably not be on the hook to pay if it is stranded and trapped in a hotel during the night.
That’s where a Credit card that has travel insurance protections It can be useful, allowing you to claim a refund for unexpected costs due to a trip interruption.
Just remember: you must generally reserve your trip with that card to make a successful claim.
Related reading:
