The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) may reduce the number of flights at Newark International Airport (EWR) in response to concerns about congestion and safety, but chronic shortages in air traffic controllers (ATCs) at the airport and nationwide won’t be solved soon, DOT Secretary Sean Duffy told lawmakers on May 14.
The announcement, which came out of an earlier meeting with airlines, comes after United Airlines voluntarily cancelled 14 Newark flights, saying the airport can’t handle the current volume of flights.
Testifying before a House Appropriations Subcommittee, Duffy said DOT expects to meet its goal of hiring 2,000 new controllers this year. But that won’t fully address a gap that has grown to 3,000 controllers in recent years.
Duffy sought to shift blame to the Biden administration for the shortfall, which has been in the spotlight since April 28 when for 90 seconds Newark air traffic controllers lost all radio and radar contact with the aircraft they were tracking.
However, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association reported that ATC staffing rose to 10,619 during the Biden administration, up from 10,268 in the final year of Trump’s first term in office.
On one recent night, just three controllers were on the job monitoring traffic into Newark during a time period when Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) target is for 14 controllers to be working. The FAA says the 38 certified controllers should be serving Newark, but only 22 are currently on staff.
Duffy contends that travel via Newark remains safe, but came under fire after it was revealed that he changed his wife’s flight from Newark to another airport in the wake of the tower outage incident. Duffy said the booking was changed due to the potential for flight delays, not safety concerns.
The Trump administration has fired thousands of FAA workers in 2025, but Duffy said no air traffic controllers have been dismissed and contended that air travel safety has not been compromised.
