U.S. authorities said on Friday that they will once more prolong reductions to minimum flight requirements at crowded airports in the New York City region through October 2024, providing relief to airlines that experienced delays due to government staffing shortages.
If airlines do not use their takeoff and landing slots at congested airports at least 80% of the time, they risk losing them under minimum flight requirements. However, thanks to the waiver, airlines are able to cancel some flights while keeping their slots.
The New York Terminal Radar Approach Control’s (N90) qualified controller staffing “is still not sufficient to allow the FAA to handle normal traffic levels,” according to the FAA.
According to the FAA, efforts are still being made “on a long-term solution to solve the chronic low levels of fully certified air traffic controllers at N90.”
Airlines for America, an industry organization, expressed gratitude for “this latest waiver extension as the FAA navigates air traffic controller staffing shortages… U.S. airlines will continue to operate larger aircraft to help reduce pressure.”
The FAA said in August that it has hired 1,500 controllers for the year, but that it is still roughly 3,000 controllers short of its staffing goals. ATC personnel contributed to delays on 41,498 flights departing from New York airports during the summer of 2022. The study said that the N90’s personnel level was just 54%.
The number of qualified controllers employed by the FAA is 10,700, up little from 10,578 in 2022, almost same to 2021, and down 10% from 2012. In order to make up for shortfalls, controllers are required to perform six-day work weeks and forced overtime at numerous locations.
