Newark Airport Updates: Here's The Latest As Crisis Disrupts Flights
Three radar glitches in two weeks between air traffic controllers and planes they were guiding into New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport—along with a staffing shortage—have prompted Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to warn of more potential disruption as the busy summer travel season approaches.
Most flights into Newark Liberty International Airport were being delayed at their origin airports by more than an hour and 40 minutes Monday due to an air traffic controller shortage, The New York Times reported.
Nearly one in five flights scheduled to land at Newark on Monday had been delayed as of 2:10 p.m. EDT, according to data from FlightAware.
On Sunday, May 11, Newark airport experienced a third equipment failure in two weeks, leading to another ground stop and sparking reactions from public officials including Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who said the airport should scale back its operations.
An air traffic control equipment outage that lasted about 45 minutes led to a grounds top at the airport and prevented flights going to Newark from taking off, CNN reported.
On May 9, a 90-second telecommunications outage around 4 a.m. affected communications and radar display at Philadelphia terminal radar approach control tower (TRACON) Area C, which guides aircraft in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport airspace, the FAA said in a statement.
The two incidents followed an initial outage on April 28, which caused air traffic controllers to lose contact with a United Airlines flight for roughly 30 seconds, 'with the aircraft under their control, unable to see, hear, or talk to them,' according to a statement provided to Forbes by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), the union representing the country's 10,400 air traffic controllers.
A 'current veteran controller' who wished not to be identified by name told NBC News that controllers guiding planes into Newark airport have lost radar contact with pilots 'at least eight or nine times in recent months' and on at least two other occasions since August.
'What you see in Newark is going to happen in other places across the country,' Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said during an interview Sunday on NBC's 'Meet the Press With Kristen Welker, adding, 'I'm concerned about the whole airspace.' Duffy characterized the equipment as safe, but old. 'We have redundancies, multiple redundancies in place to keep you safe when you fly,' Duffy told Welker. 'But we should also recognize we're seeing–we're seeing stress on an old network, and it's time to fix it.'
To compensate for a shortage of air traffic controllers and the recent tech failures, FAA is managing the flow of traffic at Newark with a 'ground delay,' which limits the number of flights in and out of the airport. In addition, United Airlines, has cut 35 roundtrip flights per day from its Newark hub. On 'Meet the Press,' Duffy said Newark '100%' needs to scale back its operations, noting: 'We have less controllers working the Newark airspace right now. And, you know, we're having these–these glitches in the system. So we slow it down and keep people safe, that's what we do.'
Air traffic controllers in a terminal radar approach control tower (TRACON) at Philadelphia International Airport are responsible for directing aircraft in and out of Newark Airport. This TRACON had been operating with 22 fully certified controllers and 21 controllers and supervisors in training, but four air traffic controllers have been on trauma leave since the April 28 incident. In the larger context, the FAA is challenged by a decades-long shortage of air traffic controllers. In February, Duffy unveiled a plan to 'supercharge' the hiring of air traffic controllers to shave 'more than four months off the old process.' But it can take nearly four years to become a certified ATC, including spending several months at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City, then completing up to three years of on-the-job experience before becoming certified, according to the FAA website.
Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) unveiled a plan to upgrade the FAA's communications system, the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS). At this time, telecommunications lines feed data from STARS in New York to the TRACON at Philadelphia International Airport, where controllers handle Newark arrivals and departures. The FAA's plan involves adding three new, high-bandwidth telecommunications connections between the New York-based STARS and the Philadelphia TRACON 'to provide more speed, reliability and redundancy,' and to establish a STARS hub at the Philadelphia TRACON so that it no longer depends on a telecommunications feed from the New York STARS hub. The improvements will be implemented 'in the coming weeks and others in the coming months, and all by the end of the year,' an FAA spokesperson told Forbes. Duffy has called for Congress to allocate tens of billions of dollars to overhaul America's strained air traffic control system and replace its antiquated technology. Duffy said his agency would build a new air traffic control system 'in three to four years' but needed Congress to make that happen, adding, 'we need all of the money up front.'
Newark Airport is open Monday, but again under a ground delay, with flights going into Newark delayed an average of only 19 minutes, according to the FAA's National Airspace System dashboard. Some airlines are issuing travel waivers allowing you to rebook a flight without a change fee. United Airlines, for example, which has a major hub at Newark, is allowing passengers flying in or out of the airport through May 23 to switch to a flight on another day at no extra charge. American Airlines' travel alert covers flights scheduled through Newark up until May 14 and JetBlue Airways allows passengers flexibility for flights scheduled through Newark until May 31. It's always a good idea to download your airline's app to monitor your flight's status and sign up for text notifications. In the event of a delay or cancellation, the app is often the fastest path to rebooking another flight. FlightAware can let passengers know if your plane is on schedule. Enter your flight information, and then click 'Where is my plane now?' under the flight number. You'll be able to see if the plane is ahead of schedule, on time or behind schedule and can take action accordingly.
Newark Airport Crisis: FAA Announces Upgrade Plan For Communication System (Forbes)
FAA Announces 'Hiring Supercharge' For Air Traffic Controllers—But Don't Expect An Immediate Fix To The Shortage (Forbes)
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