Delays continue haunting travelers at Newark Liberty International Airport. There were 175 delays and 40 cancellations as of Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has announced how the Trump administration is planning to overhaul the U.S. air traffic control system, which has been partially blamed for the issues impacting Newark passengers for more than a week.
“You’ll see Newarks in other parts of the country,” Duffy warns
The Trump administration wants to build six new air traffic control centers, buy 25,000 new radios and replace 600 old radars.
Duffy said Thursday that last week’s radar outage for Newark, which lasted between 30 and 90 seconds, was a frightening example of the need to upgrade the nation’s air traffic control system.
“If we don’t actually accomplish the mission that we’re announcing today, you will see Newarks, not just in Newark, you’ll see Newarks in other parts of the country,” he said. “We use radar from the 1970s. Some of them are from the ’80s, but most of them are from the ’70s.”
Duffy previously said investments were being made to improve reliability. Earlier, he revealed part of the plan would accelerate technology and logistical improvements, replace old wiring, deploy back-up systems and increase air traffic control staffing.
Administration officials hope to complete the overhaul in four years.
What we know about the delays at Newark Airport
Delays have plagued the international travel hub in Newark since a radar outage last Monday.
The screens that controllers use went dark for 30 seconds, and then aircraft took another 30 to 60 seconds to reappear on the screens, according to Duffy. This led to a complete loss of communication between controllers and the aircraft.
The union representing the controllers said close to a half dozen workers requested trauma leave and will be out for up to 45 days.
The shortage of workers, on top of runway construction, have led to major delays and cancellations for more than a week.
Travel experts said customers should anticipate issues at Newark until mid-June, when the runway construction will be complete. In the meantime, if you must fly out of Newark, try booking the first morning flights, which are less likely to be delayed or canceled.
Transportation officials insist the airspace in Newark is safe, because they have been slowing down traffic in and out of the airport.
United Airlines has limited its number of flights into and out of Newark to just 48 planes an hour.
“It’s now clear — and the FAA tells us — that Newark airport cannot handle the number of planes that are scheduled to operate there in the weeks and months ahead,” United CEO Scott Kirby said. “It’s disappointing to make further cuts to an already reduced schedule at Newark, but since there is no way to resolve the near-term structural FAA staffing issues, we feel like there is no other choice in order to protect our customers.”
Amid growing calls for a solution, Rep. Josh Gottheimer sent a letter to the Trump administration urging it to request emergency funding to upgrade the outdated infrastructure and technology in control towers.
