Anyone who flew out of JFK, LaGuardia or Newark airports Monday night likely had to deal with some serious delays, thanks to less flights being allowed in the air.
The Federal Aviation Administration said that delays of two hours at any of the three major New York City-area airports would be possible Monday evening. The FAA said that the delays were a result of "unexpected staff availability" that forced them to "reduce the flow of aircraft around New York City."
The agency said passengers should check with their airline for information about particular flights. The delays were expected to last into Tuesday morning, at best.
The statement implied that the shortage was expected in air-traffic controllers, but the FAA did not specify which employees were out. Government sources said that Monday's staffing issue was a result of too many people in key positions being out on unexpected sick leave. The sources insist that it was not an organized movement, and that it was not necessarily all COVID-related.
Until the FAA announcement, Monday had been a better-than-usual day for the nation's air-travel system. About 200 flights nationwide had been canceled and nearly 3,500 other flights had been delayed, according to the FlightAware tracking service. The average day in August, through Sunday, included about 670 cancellations and more than 6,200 delays.
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The delays are nothing new for passengers to deal with this summer, as many airlines have canceled a significant number of flights over the past few months due to staffing issues. Airline executives have said that air travel has seen such a sharp rebound from pandemic lows, many companies have not been able to replace workers who left or were laid off during those down times.
Back in June — when many flights were delayed or cancelled ahead of the July 4th holiday weekend, leading to long lines at many airports — the FAA said in a statement that the agency continues to recruit and train controller annually, including during the pandemic. At that time, the FAA said there was no nationwide shortage of workers.
Airlines and the FAA have traded blame for flight delays and cancellations this summer. Much of the airlines' charges have focused on a flight-control center in Jacksonville, Florida. The FAA has promised to increase staffing there. Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines have said that FAA staffing issues have prevented them from operating all the flights to Florida that they would like to schedule.
