Newark Airport continues to raise concerns. After an air traffic controller warned passengers to avoid the New Jersey hub at all costs, it was revealed on Monday that airport staff lost contact with aircraft under their control for at least 30 seconds last week.
During that time, hub employees were unable to monitor the aircraft or communicate with them in any way. The incident in question dates back to last April 28, and it forced several service members to take leave.
The airport has been grappling with staff shortages for more than a week. Sean Duffy, the Secretary of Transportation, spoke on the incident that occurred on April 28, explaining: “The primary communication line went down, the backup line didn’t fire, and so for 30 seconds we lost contact with air traffic. Now were planes going to crash? No. They have communication devices. … But it’s a sign that we have a frail system in place, and it has to be fixed.”
Even the Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged in a statement that “our antiquated air traffic control system is affecting our workforce”. The FAA confirmed that air traffic controllers went on leave after the incident, but added that it “could not replace them quickly.”
Recently, air traffic control operations at the hub have come under constant criticism. Last week, United Airlines announced that it would cancel 35 flights a day from Newark because the airport cannot handle the number of aircraft scheduled.
The company also explained that the problems were “compounded” by the fact that more than 20 percent of FAA controllers “walked off the job.” Last week’s episode comes as the Department of Transportation unveiled a plan to increase the number of FAA air traffic controllers. The agency said it was on track to hire at least 2,000 controllers by the end of 2025. Last February, the Trump administration had fired hundreds of FAA employees immediately after the horrific air disaster in Washington DC.
Duffy, for his part, finally said Thursday he will present a plan to get billions of dollars from Congress to reform and strengthen infrastructure and personnel.
