But the FAA in a public statement last year downplayed internal staffing issues and focused the public's attention on "airline issues," weather, and high demand for travel. To be sure, the administration did acknowledge that the FAA was shorthanded in Florida while sharply criticizing airline industry shortcomings. By contrast, the air traffic control facility with the second-most shorthanded situations in that period - a Los Angeles-area facility - reported causing just one flight delay. The documents obtained by CNN show the FAA believed it was responsible for 4,622 delayed Florida flights during that period, or nearly 1 in 10 delays recorded there by FlightAware. In a seven-week period in May and June 2022, airlines operated more than 1.2 million flights nationwide, and 16 percent of those involved a Florida origin or destination, according to FlightAware tracking data. The problems arose during the pandemic, when international destinations closed and Americans flocked to Florida as a reachable, tropical escape. It did not elaborate on the specific reason nor specify which positions were replaced. "One of the changes made at Jacksonville was to bring in a new leadership team," the FAA said in a statement to CNN this week. Still, the situation was significant enough that the FAA ultimately replaced management of the facility, located in Jacksonville, Florida. The FAA pointed out that data analyzed by the airline industry show that air carriers were at fault for four times as many delays as the FAA. In its defense, the Transportation Department told CNN this week it "was very transparent and public about issues faced in Florida" last summer. As a whole, the communications show that while weather and the airlines were partly to blame, the FAA also knew of its own impact. The FAA's shortfall contributed – by its own estimate – to thousands of flight disruptions, the emails indicate. That previously unreported and blunt internal assessment is among nearly 1,000 pages of FAA internal records obtained by CNN through a public records request. The email was sent by an official who now leads the agency's air traffic control arm. "I don't believe we have any excuse other than a straight up shortage of certified controllers in multiple areas," read an email to Acting Administrator Billy Nolen, who had asked for an explanation about why there were delays on an otherwise blue-sky day. That FAA facility was overwhelmed by the heavy traffic to Florida and the Caribbean, and it was slowing the flow of flights – causing delays and inconveniencing passengers – even on clear weather days. The FAA's problem, according to records obtained by CNN, was its understaffing at a key air traffic control facility in northern Florida. WASHINGTON - While President Joe Biden's administration publicly hammered airlines for flight delays and cancellations last summer, behind the scenes Federal Aviation Administration officials were well aware that their own agency also bore responsibility for disrupting thousands of flights, according to previously unreported internal FAA records
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