Newark Airport passengers face lengthy delays due to staffing shortages

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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday afternoon announced delays at Newark International Airport (EWR) after its Traffic Management Program went into effect due to staffing.

The program is in effect for traffic arriving at Newark Airport, according to FAA officials.

Some arriving flights are delayed an average of over an hour and a half.

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The delays come amid nationwide air traffic controller shortages and Newark-specific mishaps in recent months.

In May, the FAA issued a ground delay for EWR due to staffing shortages, weather and construction issues after a report found air traffic controllers briefly lost radar and radio signals.

Nationwide, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA is down 3,000 controllers.

"We might have some shortages of air traffic controllers," Duffy told Fox News' Steve Doocy in May. "You know that we had telecom issues in Philadelphia, or in Newark, out of the Philly TRACON. So those factors all come into play. … A lot of the questions that come though - is it safe to fly? And of course it is. We have so many redundancies in place, but we have to fix the system."

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Air traffic controllers from other airspaces cannot be brought in to relieve the shortage because they need to be trained in Newark's airspace.

While there are more than half a dozen new controllers in training at EWR, training and certification can take six months to a year.

"Again, I can't just snap my fingers and fix the problems that Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden left for me," Duffy said.

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Less than a month ago, the airport reopened one of its runways ahead of schedule, decreasing disruptions.

Runway 4L-22R, which was fully closed for about a month, reopened in May-with limited closures continuing on weeknights through December, and on weekends, September through December.

Two remaining runways, 4R-22L and 11-29, remain available for use throughout the closure periods, pending weather disruptions.

Fox News Digital's Marc Tamasco contributed to this report.