FAA warns of staff shortages in trying to head off summer delays

A severe shortage of air traffic controllers at a key facility in New York is threatening to deliver another summer of misery for air travelers, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration to ask airlines how the industry can avoid a repeat as travel demand rises.

The agency hosted industry leaders for a meeting this past week on how to best manage congested airspace around New York and asked airlines to operate fewer flights — while using larger planes — to ease traffic. Airlines say they are willing to work with the FAA, but some have signaled frustration as they rebound from the pandemic.

The situation illustrates the industry’s continued bumpy recovery from the pandemic and how seemingly local challenges can spread throughout the aviation system, with airlines saying problems in New York also will affect Reagan National Airport outside Washington. The FAA’s efforts are a push to get in front of a looming problem and avoid another peak travel season marred by delays, cancellations and recriminations between airline executives and FAA officials that broke out last summer.

Disruptions between New York and Washington from the worker shortage could come in the form of delays or fewer flight options. The FAA said air traffic volumes between the two regions made the nation’s capital a likely target for carriers seeking to consolidate flights.

The central problem is a lack of air traffic controllers at a facility on Long Island known as the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), or N90, which coordinates flights in and out of John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport. The FAA said safety measures put in place during the pandemic affected training, and while staffing has caught up at most other FAA facilities, the New York center remains behind.

In a notice late last month, the FAA said New York’s TRACON was staffed at 54 percent of the level it needs, compared with 81 percent at other air traffic control facilities. At the same time, the FAA forecasts that air traffic to the region will increase 7 percent this summer compared with last summer, which the agency says could translate into 45 percent higher delays.

“The FAA is taking several steps to keep air travel to and from New York City this summer safe and smooth, even as we see strong domestic demand and a return of pre-pandemic international traffic,” the agency said in a statement.

American Airlines pilot Dennis Tajer, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, compared flying into airspace over New York to being invited into a room with 1,000 spinning plates and being told to be careful where you step. Problems there, Tajer said, could easily ripple through the rest of the aviation system.

“It’s an intensely orchestrated hub-and-spoke system, so when one of the hubs is delayed, it’s not just a trickle, it’s a wave that goes out from there,” Tajer said.