The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is reportedly considering reducing the number of flights operating out of New Jersey's Newark Airport.
What Happened: The agency is set to meet with officials from several U.S. airlines to discuss scaling back flights out of Newark following disruptions caused by equipment malfunctions as well as staff shortages, CNBC reported on Sunday.
"What you see in Newark is going to happen in other places across the country. It needs to be fixed," U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said, according to the report.
Equipment outages caused air traffic controllers to lose communication as well as flight monitoring capabilities for over 90 seconds last month. There were also delays to over 1,000 flights due to equipment failures, the report suggests. The event also led to several staff members going on leave.
Questions have been raised over the aging air traffic infrastructure, which could reportedly cost over $31 billion to revamp, as well as more hiring of air traffic controllers, the report said.
"In ideal weather, with full staffing and with perfectly functioning technology, the FAA tells us that the airport (Newark) can only handle 77 flights per hour. And yet, the FAA regularly approves schedules of 80+ flights per hour almost every day between 3:00 pm and 8:00 p.m.," United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) CEO Scott Kirby told employees in a note, according to the report.
Why It Matters: The news comes in as the U.S. aviation industry is dealing with a difficult quarter, as analysts have reset price targets for several U.S. airlines following quarterly results.
American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) recently announced it was pulling its 2025 outlook as the airline's operating revenue declined slightly to $12.55 billion, a 0.15% YoY decline.
Elsewhere, JetBlue Airways Corp (NASDAQ:JBLU) is reportedly in talks with United Airlines over a possible partnership between the two companies.
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