Newark Liberty International Airport suffered yet more travel chaos late Wednesday with a temporary ground stoppage due to a worrying lack of air traffic controllers.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered planes to stay on the ground at the Big Apple area’s second-busiest airport from 5:20 p.m. Wednesday, with flights only allowed to resume at 6 p.m.
It was “due to the air traffic controller staffing shortage,” officials confirmed of the latest stop at the beleaguered travel hub.
Other stops have been over a closed runway as well as technology and communication glitches.
The problems have limited Newark Airport to just 28 arrivals and departures per hour — a 30% drop from normal operations.
One of the airport’s three runways that was shut down by the FAA on April 15 due to safety concerns is due to reopen two weeks ahead of schedule on June 15, which should allow more air traffic in and out of the airport, the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey said Friday.
Additionally, a new fiber optic cable has been installed to try to fix the air traffic control issues plaguing the airport.
The new cable is already in place between Philadelphia and New York and should be ready for use by July, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said last month.
Air traffic controllers in Philadelphia have repeatedly lost contact with Newark flights, including on April 28 when crucial communications were knocked out for roughly 90 seconds.
Earlier this week, Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, Newark’s anchor airline, said the alarming mishaps have hit the company in the wallet, noting a drop in passenger bookings.
Kirby later said United flights out of Newark would be the “cheapest … in history” this summer as the airline tries to recover.
