Four major airlines to cut New York flights to help reduce delays
One of the most frustrating experiences when traveling undoubtedly has to be flight delays. Although it seems to be a regular occurrence depending on where you’re departing from or where you’re going, the news of a late flight arrival hardly ever gets more tolerable each time it happens.
As reported by Detour, New York ranked within the top five states that had the most flight delays in 2022. The state came in at number four, with 708,578 delays between January and November of last year. In order to help curb this, four major U.S. airlines are slated to cut down on round trip flights from New York this summer. According to Travel Noire, the airlines – American Airlines, JetBlue, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines – are all experiencing a shortage in air traffic controllers.
As a result of the shortage, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has advised airlines to make the change before there are negative repercussions during the summer travel season. Travel Noire reports that there is an expected 10 percent flight reduction at LaGuardia Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport.
Changes have not yet been solidified yet, but the airlines have confirmed the reduction is in the works since the FAA shortage announcement in March. “We need to reduce flying and make sure we can operate what we’ve got,” JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said in a statement.
In early March, the FAA predicted that the New York area would only meet 54 percent of the required level of air traffic controller staffing. Comparatively, the national level would be at approximately 81 percent. Because of this major difference in staffing, there is a potential for travelers to experience flight delays if a, roughly, 45 percent reduction in flights to the New York area is not made.
Travel Noire reports that the staffing shortage is not a new issue. In June 2022, CEO of Delta Airlines, Ed Bastian, maintained that air traffic control was the most deleted segment in the aviation industry. Part of the issue comes with the three years that it takes to become an air traffic controller. This, on top of paused training during the pandemic, has left the industry operating under capacity.
To compensate for this issue, the FAA is permitting airlines to idle up to 10 present of their slots at JFK and LaGuardia. Newark Liberty’s runway timings will be adjusted between May 15 and Sept. 15. Takeoffs and landings require one slot or runway timing, and airlines are intended to use them 80 percent of the time. This waiver will also impact Washington’s Reagan National airport slots, but airlines will have to request waivers from the FAA by April 30.
Despite the intention behind this move, travelers will still be facing two major issues with this change. The first is that less flights means less seats available. Secondly, less flights means that airlines could start cutting routes to smaller cities, which could impact the travelers there. Analyst Conor Cunningham of Melius Research recommended consolidating flights to larger aircrafts to compensate for reduced operations.
While the impact on summer travel has yet to be seen, there are some positives for the industry. Ongoing capacity restraints, reduced fuel costs and positive demand commentary all translate to higher airline revenues and profit margins.
Roshae Hemmings is an arts and culture magazine journalist from St. Louis, MO. A graduate from the Missouri School of Journalism, Roshae has bylines in the Columbia Missourian, Vox Magazine and 5280 Magazine discussing topics ranging from pop culture, social justice and eat and drink. She is a foodie at heart and enjoys eating food as much as learning about the story behind it. When she’s not working on a story, Roshae enjoys cooking, watching and analyzing reality TV, and spending time with family and friends.
This story was originally published April 6, 2023 at 3:36 PM with the headline "Four major airlines to cut New York flights to help reduce delays."