Newark Liberty International Airport hit with delays again, this time due to construction and staffing shortage
Thursday marked another day of travel headaches and major delays at Newark Liberty International Airport, where arriving flights were at one point delayed by an average of five hours.
Just like Monday, it was being caused by air traffic controller-related issues. It's an issue CBS News New York investigative reporter Tim McNicholas has covered for years.
The departures and arrivals board at Newark Liberty was littered with delays on Thursday, many of them prompted by equipment issues and runway construction, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The agency put in a ground stop earlier in the morning and then cancelled it, but it was still slowing traffic in and out of the airport as the day moved along.
The air traffic controller issue
The FAA also said this week's delays were caused by staffing shortages at an air traffic control center in Philadelphia, which guides some air traffic at Newark after the agency relocated a group of controllers there from New York last year in an effort to help staffing overall.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the problems "cracks in the system," and the FAA says it is actively investigating.
"Yeah, we're seeing more delays. This is a huge part of our economy. Again, it's safety and if you make it more efficient, you have great rewards for economic activity as well," Duffy said.
Duffy announced a plan Thursday to try to get controllers to stay longer before retiring, and to move more controllers into harder-to-staff locations like Albuquerque, New Mexico.
He said he plans to offer bonuses to do so, and he also wants to create more opportunities in the civilian airspace for military air traffic controllers. He had already announced a pay raise earlier this year for new controllers and a plan to try to speed up the hiring process.
"We're hoping in three to four years we can get to full staffing, not 20 years," Duffy said.
For now, as CBS News New York has reported for years, the FAA is still short about 3,000 controllers nationwide. Duffy also said he plans to announce a new plan next week for revamping air traffic control infrastructure and equipment.
Weary Newark Liberty passengers running out of patience
For passengers at Newark Liberty, improvements can't come soon enough.
The Hendricks family was delayed six hours while coming from Charleston, West Virginia, and missed their connecting flight to Rome. The next one is sometime Friday.
"We don't know if we can get on it or not. That's what we're trying to find out now," Cheryl Hendricks said.
Major airlines have been rebooking or offering waivers, but not offering hotel stays, saying this is an FAA issue, not an airline issue.
"If they do get delayed one more time, I'll say forget it. They definitely put a damper on me right now," passenger Henry Adamson said.
"The flight was delayed for two hours from Peru," said passenger Reymni Del Castillo.
"Our flight was supposed to take off at 11:55 and now it's delayed until 4 p.m.," another traveler said.
"I heard about this on Monday. My friend flew in here, and, you know, trying to get his kids to school and took him all day to get home on Sunday night or whatever because of this. And then, you know, here we are, what? Five days later?" James Bombolevicz added.
It you're traveling or planning to pick someone up from the airport Thursday, be sure to double check your flight status.
