May 5, 2025
(San Francisco Chronicle)
–
A flight bound for
Newark
was forced to return to
San Francisco
on Monday, one of the many cancellations and delays in
United Airlines'
decision to cut traffic to the
New Jersey airport
amid a walkout by traffic controllers.
United Airlines Flight 1909, which departed
San Francisco International Airport
at
10:36 a.m. Monday
, was in the air for nearly 21/2 hours before turning around in
Nebraska
, according to
FlightAware
data. The flight was one of more than 100 canceled trips since Monday, with equipment failures at the
Federal Aviation Administration
creating serious delays and problems at
Newark Liberty International Airport
,
CNN and Airways Magazine
reported.
The
Newark
-bound flight landed back at SFO around
4:04 p.m.
, nearly 51/2 hours after passengers left the same city, flight tracking showed.
Passengers departing from or arriving at
Newark
, a travel hub outside of
New York City
, were continuing to experience delays Saturday after a week of cancellations and chaos.
FlightAware
reported Saturday that 27% of flights leaving the airport were delayed -- along with 8% being canceled -- while 32% arriving at
Newark
were delayed, with 7% canceled.
United CEO
Scott Kirby
announced Friday that the airline -- which has hubs at
Newark
and SFO -- would cut 35 round-trip flights out of
Newark
from its daily schedule beginning Saturday.
Kirby cited failure of
FAA
technology that led to cancellations and delays, compounded by further operational disruptions by about 20% of air traffic controllers at
Newark
walking off the job.
"Keep in mind, this particular air traffic control facility has been chronically understaffed for years and without these controllers, it's now clear -- and the
FAA
tells us -- that
Newark airport
cannot handle the number of planes that are scheduled to operate there in the weeks and months ahead," he said in a statement.
Kirby said he spoke Friday with Transportation Secretary
Sean Duffy
about long-term plans to address
FAA
staffing and technology problems at
Newark
.
The
FAA
employees and controllers at the
New Jersey airport
are "highly skilled professionals" who are "persevering through technology and staffing shortfalls to ensure that the tens of thousands of people traveling through
Newark
every day get to their destinations safely," Kirby said.
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