FAA cancels delays in New York over staffing issues

(CNN) – The Federal Aviation Administration canceled an earlier warning that flights to and from New York City-area airports could be delayed by up to two hours Monday night due to a shortage of air traffic controllers.

Earlier today, the Federal Aviation Administration said flights could be delayed up to two hours due to staffing issues.

“Departure and arrival delays this evening may approach two hours at JFK International, New York LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International,” the FAA said in a statement.

A publicly available FAA consultant showed staffing issues at the New York Air Road Traffic Control Center, an air traffic control facility located 50 miles east of Manhattan on Long Island. An FAA consultant said delays were expected from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET.

Airlines have cited staffing problems with air traffic controllers as a reason for canceling huge flights this summer, although the FAA maintains that most delays are caused by airlines.

According to data from flight-tracking website FlightAware, 48,000 US flights were canceled between May 27, the Friday before Memorial Day, and August 14. This figure represents 2.3% of scheduled flights.

Nearly 483,000 US flights were delayed during that period, or about 24% of flights.

Bad weather compounded other operational challenges this summer.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in an interview with CNN last week that while the weather disrupted air traffic this past weekend, “it shouldn’t have created the kind of ripple effects through the system that it did.”

TOP PHOTO: Travelers wait for flights at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on July 1, 2022 (Angus Mordant/Bloomberg/Getty Images)