May 14 (UPI) -- The Federal Aviation Administration is meeting with airlines Wednesday on ways to reduce over-scheduling and flight delays during peak hours at Newark Liberty International Airport.
The FAA said that "EWR is consistently one of the most delay-prone airports."
"EWR continues to experience operational delays stemming from the daily closure of Runway 4L/22R due to construction, air traffic controller staffing shortages, and historical congestion challenges, and antiquated equipment and connections. FAA has recently made significant changes to increase air traffic controller staffing through a combination of incentive and training programs," The FAA said in a statement.
Since July 2024, the controller facility responsible for overseeing the Newark area has been understaffed.
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The Newark area is supposed to have 38 certified professional controllers, but there are just 24 currently working, according to the FAA.
The Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control, which oversees Newark, has a targeted staffing number of 114. But it currently has just 82 CPCs.
"The goal is to have a manageable number of flights land at Newark. Families shouldn't have to wait four or five hours for a flight that never takes off," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said during a press conference.
Duffy said on May 8 the FAA will replace the national air traffic control system.
"We are seizing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a brand new, state-of-the-art air traffic control system," Duff said in a statement.
The Wednesday FAA meeting is happening following over two weeks of delayed flights caused by a combination of factors including air traffic controller shortages, runway construction and congestion.
"Due to the volume of originating and destination flights in the New York City region, as well as the interdependency and complexity of the airspace surrounding EWR and other New York area airports, delays caused in part by N90 staffing shortfalls are expected to continue affecting carriers' ability to operate and continue to frustrate the traveling public," The FAA statement on the meeting said.
The average delay duration at the Newark airport is 85 minutes at 7 a.m., increasing to 137 minutes at 5 p.m., according to the FAA.
"The airport clearly is unable to handle the current level of scheduled operations. Based on FAA's analysis of the data, FAA will propose an hourly arrival rate of no more than 28 operations, with a corresponding departure rate of 28 operations, resulting in no more than 56 total operations per hour during the remainder of the construction period," the FAA said.
