(NewsNation) — The airline industry has been plagued by flight delays and cancellations in recent months, resulting from communication outages and staff shortages.
John Goglia, a former National Transportation Safety Board member and adviser on the HBO show “The Rehearsal,” said some issues could be solved by airports flying fewer aircraft.
“Capacity for airports like JFK, Newark, and a number of other ones around the country,” he said. “We just have too many airplanes trying to land on too few airports.”
Goglia says there is no easy fix for the industry, but he said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is examining all of the options right now.
“We have physical limits on how many airplanes an airport can handle per hour,” Goglia said. “And we’ve been pushing on the maximum in certain airports for a while. So, it needs to be reviewed again, and the procedures for those airports need to be reviewed again to make sure we’re operating at the highest levels of safety.”
Newark Liberty International Airport has come under tremendous scrutiny after last month’s incident in which air traffic controllers in Philadelphia lost radar and communications with planes over Newark.
Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport was also called out for having too many airplanes landing, though the airport has added an extra runway to address safety concerns.
“People want to fly today,” Goglia said. “People want to go some place. So, it’s a balance between what the airlines want to provide, the passengers’ demand, and the government’s ability to satisfy both of those parties.”
Goglia acknowledged that the federal government should carry the most responsibility for enhancing airline safety because it runs the Air Traffic Control Network, which controls the flow of airplanes.