TRAVELERS have been given good news as Newark Airport is set to welcome a big change after being plagued by chaos.
At the same time, the CEO of a major airline has made a big promise to flyers ahead of the busy summer season.
After being hampered by terrifying equipment blackouts, staffing shortages, and huge delays, Newark Airport in New Jersey finally has some good news.
Officials have confirmed that the $121 million construction project on the closed runway will be completed 13 days ahead of the original schedule. This means that the runway is expected to reopen on Monday.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has stated that the runway, which was closed in April due to safety concerns raised by the FAA, will resume regular operations on June 2.
In a press release, it was mentioned that due to staffing and operational challenges faced by the FAA, air traffic controllers were struggling to efficiently manage the traffic with only two operational runways at Newark Liberty. To address this issue, the Port Authority has expedited the construction process.
“As we approach the busy summer travel season, this key milestone puts us on a path to further reducing congestion, enhancing safety, and ensuring a seamless travel experience,” U.S Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said following the news.
“With the runway completed, we’ll continue our work to harden the telecoms infrastructure and improving the staffing pipeline for the airspace,” he added.
But following weeks of chaos sparked by equipment failures and staffing issues which were further hampered by the runway construction, there have been increasing fears about flying in or out of Newark.
One air traffic controller warned that “people will pay with their lives” and that she refuses to fly out of her own airport due to her safety concerns.
She was put on stress-trauma leave after an incident on May 9, just before 4 am, when the radar and radio systems went dark for 90 seconds, with her alone in the tower.
It was just one in a string of technical glitches to hit Newark, with another outage hitting the airport just two days later.
Newark’s major staffing cuts at the control center have been largely to blame for its recent issues.
Last year, the airport moved the TRACON facility from Westbury, NY, to Philadelphia, PA, hoping to ramp up staffing but rather than relocate, some controllers living in Westbury simply left.
Restoring faith in the airport will be a sizeable challenge, but United Airlines hopes to reel back customers with low prices and increased flights now the construction work has finished.
CEO Scott Kirby vowed on Thursday that United Airlines flights from Newark will be the cheapest ever after admitting the chaos at the airport hit the airline badly.
Speaking at a Wall Street Journal forum, Kirby said the company “lost a lot of bookings” out of Newark and as a result, he is slashing prices.
“There’s a lot more seats available, it’s going to be the cheapest it’s probably ever going to be in history,” he said.
“I don’t really like that, but you ought to book, and it’s going to be the least crowded.”
He added that passengers concerned about safety and being hit with delays will get the best performance compared to other New York area airport this summer.
This is because the FAA has slashed the number of flights to and from Newark in response to the issues it has been facing, improving efficiency and safety.
“Our goal is to relieve the substantial inconvenience to the traveling public from excessive flight delays due to construction, staffing challenges, and recent equipment issues, which magnify as they spread through the National Airspace System,” acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau said in a statement.Â
Kirby had previously said that the airport could not handle the number of scheduled flights “in the weeks and months ahead” and as a result he cancelled 35 round-trip flights out of Newark each day.
“We feel like there is no other choice in order to protect our customers,” Kirby said in a letter to United Airlines passengers.
However, now that construction has finished on the runway, United Airlines is set to ramp up its flights out of Newark to 380 per day – it is currently running 293 daily flights from the airport.
“People should book with confidence,” Kirby said. “Now’s the time to buy.”
To help with travel anxiety, The U.S. Sun previously revealed the best time of day to fly to avoid delays and cancellations.
