WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation

Administration is holding a two-day meeting with major airlines

on Wednesday to discuss its proposal to cut flights at Newark

Liberty International Airport in order to address major delays.

The meeting in Washington comes as a series of equipment

outages and staffing issues plaguing the airport - one of the

United States' busiest located in the New York metro area - have

caused travel chaos.

"The airport clearly is unable to handle the current level

of scheduled operations," the FAA said in a notice issued ahead

of the meeting, adding it believes the proposal "would reduce

overscheduling, flight delays, and cancellations to an

acceptable level."

The FAA also cited ongoing runway construction at Newark

that regularly forces the cancellation of dozens of flights

daily and delays hundreds more.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Delay Reduction

Meeting is the first in more than 20 years.

"Families shouldn't be going to Newark and waiting five

hours for a flight that then gets canceled," he said.

The FAA meeting is not open to the public, but the agency

will release a transcript in the coming weeks. The FAA also

plans separate confidential sessions with each airline to

discuss voluntary flight reductions.

United Airlines has sharply cut flights at its Newark hub

and wants the FAA to impose new limitations on flights there to

address ongoing delays. United said on Tuesday it expects to

temporarily cut a few additional flights.

Newark has also been hit by a series of telecom outages.

The latest incidents highlight the U.S. air traffic control

network's aging infrastructure and come after Duffy last week

proposed spending billions of dollars to fix the system over the

next three to four years.

Duffy is testifying before two congressional committees this

week on the department's budget.

The FAA last year relocated control of Newark's airspace to

Philadelphia to address staffing and congested New York

City-area traffic.

The FAA said the area overseeing Newark has a targeted

staffing level of 38 certified controllers, but currently has

just 24 in place.

Nationwide, the regulator is about 3,500 air traffic

controllers below targeted staffing levels, and some controllers

overseeing Newark took stress leave following a serious April 28

outage.

United on Monday sent emails to 3.7 million New York-area

customers and passengers with upcoming Newark flights seeking to

reassure them about safety.