Flight cancellations continue this Wednesday at airports in New York and New Jersey due to storms and a reported fire at a control tower.
The airports impacted since the weekend are Newark in NJ; and John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia in NY.
In the case of the first airfield, until 5 am this Wednesday, the FlightAware site had registered 66 cancellations; the same amount at LaGuardia; and 32 at JFK.
The air chaos began on Sunday. More than 3,500 flights were canceled between that day and Monday. By Tuesday afternoon, more than 1,600 flights had been canceled.
“I have been here for a day and a half trying to get to Denver (Colorado). I tried different flights through United and they had all been cancelled. I am trying to find another airline. They told me to wait in the customer service line to get a hotel pass (voucher), but the waiting line is 12 hours,” Jackie Billotte described to ABC News from Newark Airport.
Added to the situation is the shortage of air traffic control personnel. Since last April, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) anticipated congestion during the summer months in the NY and NJ air zone due to the personnel problem.
However, the explanation does not convince many, particularly in a season where demand has historically increased, so they consider that the authorities should be more prepared for the flow of passengers.
“There must be a better way and we are trying to understand what the problem really is. Is it the weather or is it just a lack of air traffic controllers? We are reading how thousands of flights are being canceled for one thing or another,” said passenger Laura Taylor.
Of the American airlines, United Airlines is the one that leads the cancellations, the majority in Newark.
The company’s CEO Scott Kirby blamed the FAA for the decision to cancel thousands of flights due to weather, despite the fact that the airline claims to be able to drive.
The question that many are asking is whether the system can be favorably restored between now and Friday when it is estimated that dozens of people will undertake trips for the July 4th holiday weekend.
“In addition to bad weather issues, we are in the peak holiday season and getting closer to the 4th of July, so all of these flights are booked close to or fully booked, so there are very few empty seat options to accommodate people. ”asked aviation analyst Henry Harteveldt.
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