Latest news with #ChrisRocheleau
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Airline CEOs pen open letter to Congress urging industry overhaul
(NewsNation) — Airline officials Wednesday penned an open letter to Congress in which they wrote that the U.S.' 'wildly outdated' air traffic control system is 'failing Americans.' The letter comes in the wake of a Federal Aviation Administration interim order that cuts back on the number of flights into and out of New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport. The move stems from staffing and equipment issues that have caused mass delays at the airport. Feds vow to overhaul US air traffic control system while fixing problems at troubled Newark airport Air traffic controller shortages and equipment failures, which have plagued the industry in recent years, are two of the issues cited in Wednesday's letter by the CEOs of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Atlas Air, along with leaders at FedEx and UPS. 'Air traffic controllers should not be operating with corroded copper wiring, floppy disks and physical strips of paper with flight numbers,' reads the letter, which was posted on the Airlines for America website. The letter points out that the FAA's own Safety Review Team found in 2023 that a national air controller shortage and inefficient operations are 'eroding the margins of safety.' While air travel remains the safest mode of transportation, the CEOs argue that it must remain that way. Aviation experts say air safety issues are years in the making To ensure the status quo, 'serious upgrades need to happen now,' they wrote. Airline officials' stance mirrors that of acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau. 'Commercial airline travel remains the safest form of transportation in world history,' Rocheleau said in a statement. 'But the last three months drove home that we need to do more, we need to be better, and we need to do it together.' Transportation chief to call for overhaul of US air traffic control system Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a plan earlier this month for the federal government to make comprehensive investments in the U.S. national airspace. The CEOs' letter urges Congress to do the same by providing the resources to 'turn the plan into reality.' According to the document, 92% of the FAA's facilities and equipment budget currently goes toward maintaining the outdated technology. A new system would be more cost-effective in the long run. 'As the Secretary himself has said, it's like continuing to pour money into an old clunker of a car — at some point, it makes more financial sense to buy a new car,' the letter states. 'We're past that point.' Newark problems and recent crashes put focus on air traffic controller shortage and aging equipment A new system would also help solve the staffing shortage, the airline officials argue. 'Improving technology is critical to recruiting the air traffic controllers of the future,' the letter states. 'Our controllers are doing an amazing job under stressful working conditions. They do not need the added stress of potential technology failures.' Congress is currently hashing out details of the budget for the new fiscal year. The House Budget Committee's version of the bill includes just over $12 billion for the FAA technology upgrade. The CEOs described the allocation as 'a solid down payment that will help keep air travel safe and efficient for Americans who fly and ship goods every day.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Air traffic control system ‘failing Americans': Airline executives
The heads of the largest airlines in the country penned an open letter Wednesday calling on Congress to fund a major modernization of the U.S.'s antiquated air traffic control system that has contributed to heightened safety concerns and rampant airport delays. 'The current system is failing Americans,' the group of 10 company CEOs wrote in a joint letter that was posted on the Airlines for America (A4A) industry collective's website. 'The United States needs and deserves a world-class aviation system.' A4A represents American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Atlas Air, as well as global shipping companies FedEx and UPS. Representatives from the airlines have been holding regular meetings with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in recent weeks to discuss various concerns and steps forward to address them. 'Commercial airline travel remains the safest form of transportation in world history,' acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau said in a statement Wednesday. 'But the last three months drove home that we need to do more, we need to be better, and we need to do it together.' The FAA issued an interim order on Tuesday reducing the flight arrival and departure rate at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, after staffing and equipment issues spiraled into mass delays. '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,' Rocheleau said. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has been on an aggressive push to resolve a long-standing air traffic controller staffing shortage, but outdated equipment has compounded concerns in recent years. The airline companies wrote in their joint letter that it's on Congress to pay for a new multibillion-dollar, state-of-the-art air traffic control system. 'Aviation is an industry of innovation, and the FAA needs the ability to procure 21st century equipment and transformational technology solutions to efficiently and strategically handle 21st century flight volumes,' they wrote. Republicans, who hold narrow majorities in the House and Senate, are trying to hash out a spending plan for the coming year that will cover most of President Trump's sweeping policy agenda in what Trump has dubbed the 'one big, beautiful bill.' The House Budget Committee's version of the reconciliation bill includes just over $12 billion for the FAA technology upgrade, which the airlines deemed a 'solid down payment' toward the full overhaul needed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Washington Post
21-05-2025
- Washington Post
FAA extends Newark flight limits over construction, safety concerns
Federal air safety regulators are restricting flights at Newark Liberty International Airport until the end of the year as officials scramble to train more air traffic controllers, install backup equipment and modernize an 'antiquated' system that has deteriorated for years, all while trying to allay the public's growing fear that it's no longer safe to fly. The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday ordered the airport to maintain a cap of 28 arrivals and 28 departures per hour until June 15, when daily construction on the main runway is scheduled to end. Once daily construction is over, officials will lift the limit to 34 arrivals and 34 departures per hour from Sundays through Fridays until Oct. 25. For Saturdays, the cap will remain at 28 arrivals and departures per hour through the end of the year. '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 news release. The restriction came 11 days after radar systems at the airport stopped working for about 90 seconds and three weeks after a similar outage led to hundreds of delayed or canceled flights. Five air traffic controllers took trauma leave after the outage on April 28, worsening the airport's chronic staffing shortage. After the second outage, Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said in an interview with NBC News's 'Meet the Press' that aired May 11 that it was still safe to fly from Newark but that regulators needed to limit flights there to ensure it remained safe. Duffy has been charged with revamping the FAA's aging infrastructure and beefing up the perpetually understaffed corps of air traffic controllers after a deadly plane crash near Washington in January and weeks of delays and cancellations that have shaken travelers' trust in the nation's airways. Duffy said the United States still has the 'safest airspace.' Travelers still believe flying is safe, but their confidence is wavering, according to a poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs poll conducted in February, before the Newark airport outages. About 64 percent of U.S. adults said they believed flying was safe when asked in the weeks after several high-profile, deadly plane crashes, including one in which an Army helicopter and a passenger jet crashed just outside Reagan National Airport, killing 67 people. That was a drop from the 71 percent who said the same in January 2024. The 2025 poll sampled more than 1,100 adults nationwide. About 55 percent of U.S. adults said in February that they had 'a great deal' or 'a moderate amount' of confidence in the federal government's ability to maintain air safety, down from 62 percent in 2024. Tim Craig, Daniel Wu and Hannah Sampson contributed to this report.
The Hill
21-05-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Air traffic control system ‘failing Americans': Airline executives
The heads of the largest airlines in the country penned an open letter Wednesday calling on Congress to fund a major modernization of the U.S.'s antiquated air traffic control system that has contributed to heightened safety concerns and rampant airport delays. 'The current system is failing Americans,' the group of 10 company CEOs wrote in a joint letter that was posted on the Airlines for America (A4A) industry collective's website. 'The United States needs and deserves a world-class aviation system.' A4A represents American Airlines, Delta, United, Southwest, JetBlue, Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Atlas Air, as well as global shipping companies FedEx and UPS. Representatives from the airlines have been holding regular meetings with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in recent weeks to discuss various concerns and steps forward to address them. 'Commercial airline travel remains the safest form of transportation in world history,' FAA Acting Administrator Chris Rocheleau said in a statement Wednesday. 'But the last three months drove home that we need to do more, we need to be better, and we need to do it together.' The FAA issued an interim order on Tuesday reducing the flight arrival and departure rate at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, after staffing and equipment issues spiraled into mass delays. '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,' Rocheleau said. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has been on an aggressive push to resolve a long-standing air traffic controller staffing shortage, but outdated equipment has compounded concerns in recent years. The airline companies wrote in their joint letter that it's on Congress to pay for a new multi-billion-dollar, state-of-the-art air traffic control system. 'Aviation is an industry of innovation, and the FAA needs the ability to procure 21st century equipment and transformational technology solutions to efficiently and strategically handle 21st century flight volumes,' they wrote. Republicans, who hold narrow majorities in the House and Senate, are trying to hash out a spending plan for the coming year that will cover most of President Trump's sweeping policy agenda in what Trump has dubbed the 'One Big, Beautiful Bill.' The House Budget Committee's version of the reconciliation bill includes just over $12 billion for the FAA technology upgrade, which the airlines deemed a 'solid down payment' toward the full overhaul needed.
Skift
21-05-2025
- Business
- Skift
FAA Limits Capacity Out of Newark, Airlines Endorse Restrictions
The flight caps went into effect on Tuesday, but it is unclear if Newark will be able to fix most of its operational issues before those caps are lifted. Ahead of what is expected to be one of the busiest summers on record for air travel, the Federal Aviation Administration has ordered airlines to reduce flights out of Newark Liberty International Airport. As part of the order, Newark will be able to accommodate only 28 arrivals and 28 departures an hour until runway construction is complete. Outside of the construction period, the airport can accommodate 34 arrivals and departures an hour until October 25. The FAA said daily construction at Newark will end June 15, but will continue on Saturdays until the end of the year. '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. FAA to Make Tech, Staffing Improvements Out of Newark To make operations at Newark more efficient, the FAA is also adding three new high-bandwidth telecommunications connections between New York and Philadelphia. Air traffic controllers who oversee airspace around Newark were relocated to Philadelphia last year. The agency also said it would increase staffing in Philadelphia. Low staffing in the area and absences led to thousands of flight cancellations out of Newark last week. Currently, there are 22 certified air traffic controllers and five fully certified supervisors based in Philadelphia, short of the 38 the FAA believes are needed for smooth operations out of Newark. Twenty-one controllers and supervisors are in training, and 10 of those controllers and supervisors are receiving on-the-job training. The FAA said it has a 'healthy pipeline of controllers, with training classes filled through July 2026.' The changes at Newark come after the agency met with multiple airlines last week to discuss reducing capacity at the airport, which is one of the busiest in the country. The airlines present at those meetings were American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Air. The FAA said representatives from those airlines met with the agency one-on-one 'to find a balance between reducing their operations at the airport and meeting the needs of each individual airline.' What Happened at Newark Multiple tech outages and staffing shortages led to a string of disruptions out of Newark. On April 28, air traffic controllers faced an outage that caused them to lose radar and communications with aircraft for 90 seconds. The incident led multiple air traffic controllers to take time off under the Federal Compensation Act, which covers time off for employees who experience a traumatic incident on the job or are physically injured, according to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. Air traffic controllers experienced two other outages after April 28. United, which operates a major hub out of Newark, previously made the decision to cut 35 daily round-trip flights out of the airport. It is unclear if Newark will be able to fix most of its operational issues before the flight caps are lifted. Airlines Issue Travel Waivers In response to the disruptions at Newark, some airlines started issuing travel waivers to customers. United is offering customers a travel waiver for flights between May 6 and May 23, allowing customers to reschedule flights without paying change fees or fare differences. Delta is also offering a waiver to customers who are flying out of Newark between May 17 and June 15. Airlines also endorsed the flight cuts at Newark. 'Reducing the number of flights scheduled at Newark will help ensure that we can safely and reliably operate the flights that remain on the schedule, which is why we proactively reduced our schedule earlier this month,' United said in a statement. 'For the first quarter of 2025, Newark was the most on-time airport in the New York area.' Delta said it was 'committed to working with the FAA and our industry partners on a solution to address the air traffic control and runway construction challenges affecting Newark airport this summer.' American, which currently does not have a travel alert for Newark, said it wanted Congress to fund efforts to fix air traffic control. The House Transportation Committee has proposed $12.5 billion in initial funding for air traffic control upgrades. 'We appreciate the FAA for leading a constructive conversation to improve operations in Newark and across the national airspace,' American said in a statement. 'During the discussion about Newark reductions, American committed to doing our part to support more efficient operations. We also discussed air traffic challenges in other places around the country which demonstrate the urgent need to staff up and modernize our air traffic control system. What am I looking at? The performance of airline sector stocks within the ST200. The index includes companies publicly traded across global markets including network carriers, low-cost carriers, and other related companies. The Skift Travel 200 (ST200) combines the financial performance of nearly 200 travel companies worth more than a trillion dollars into a single number. See more airlines sector financial performance. Read the full methodology behind the Skift Travel 200.
