Massive Flight Delays Hit New York City Airports Over Staffing Shortages

Topline

Staffing shortages are throttling traffic at several major northeastern airports, including all three that serve the New York City metropolitan area, after the Federal Aviation Administration declared ground delays and ground stops on Monday afternoon.

Key Facts

The FAA declared ground stops at Newark Liberty International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport which were set to expire at 7:45 p.m. EDT, 7 p.m., and 6:30 p.m., respectively.

The disruptions caused average ground delays over an hour at all three airports, with JFK reporting the longest average ground delay time, at 149 minutes.

LaGuardia is also reporting significant departure delays averaging 120 minutes and increasing, according to the FAA—and data from FlightAware as of just after 6 p.m. EDT indicates 35% of all inbound and outbound flights at the airport Monday had been delayed.

Newark is also facing increasing departure delays, with travelers waiting an average of 135 minutes.

Officials also declared a ground delay advisory at Philadelphia International Airport, which is facing average ground delay times of 83 minutes and departure delays of 30 minutes.

All of the ground stops and delays in the New York City and Philadelphia areas were due to staffing shortages, according to FAA notices.

Tangent

Elsewhere in the country, more than half of scheduled flights were canceled or delayed at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, with significant travel impacts also reported atChicago Midway International Airport, according to FlightAware data. The FAA declared ground stops at both airports, but these were triggered by thunderstorms in the area, not staffing shortages. Both airports are experiencing ground delays and departure delays as of Monday evening, with travelers at O’Hare waiting an average of 105 minutes to depart.

Key Background

In June, the FAA extended flight limits at New York’s major airports due to a prolonged shortage of air traffic controllers, Reuters reported. It previously cut flights at Newark, which are expected to remain in place until October 2027. The agency expects the region will face air traffic controller shortages until next year. New York Area Terminal Radar Approach only has 57% of its targeted number of air traffic controllers, according to the report.