Recent communications issues at the FAA facility handling flights in and out of Newark airport were not new, officials say. Outages happened at least three times last year.

Newark

Recent testimony before Congress has highlighted repeated communications outages at the FAA facility responsible for handling flights at Newark airport. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy acknowledged that these disruptions occurred several times last year, specifically noting outages in October and November, prior to a more recent system failure. The April incident at a Philadelphia-area FAA facility caused a loss of radar and communication capabilities for controllers managing Newark-bound flights, with several controllers subsequently seeking trauma leave.

Further technical issues have arisen since, resulting in thousands of flight delays and cancellations. Secretary Duffy advocated for substantial funding to update the nation's air traffic control infrastructure, identifying Newark as a priority for upgrades. He emphasized the need to address challenges at both high- and low-volume airports as part of a broader modernization effort.

Simultaneously, airline executives met with Department of Transportation officials to discuss strategies for reducing delays at Newark airport. This may include reducing the number of scheduled flights. Airlines have already reduced 35 flights and anticipate further cuts, with assurances that international routes, such as those to Paris, will remain available.

Officials reiterated their confidence in the safety of Newark airport operations, citing redundant safety systems and the expertise of flight crews. Additionally, it was disclosed that a crucial direct hotline between Washington-Reagan National Air Traffic Control Tower and Pentagon controllers has been non-operational since 2022, a fact the FAA stated it had only recently discovered.



Officials reveal outages at Newark airport that happened last year

Testifying in front of Congress, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy admitted there were problems at the nation's 12th busiest airport long before the April 28th system outage. There were outages in October and November as well in Newark. The April issues at a Philadelphia area FAA facility left controllers there briefly unable to communicate or track flights approaching Newark airport. About a half dozen controllers sought trauma leave after. I just got told that Approach lost all their radars. Three of their four radar screens went black and they have no frequencies. In the weeks since, at least two other systems issues have occurred causing thousands of delays and cancellations. Secretary Duffy made his case to lawmakers for tens of billions of dollars to fund his plan to update the nation's aging air traffic control system. Newark has to be addressed. It has to be addressed first. My preference would be that we start at lower volume airports and we go through that process and learn as we go. But if we can put a man on the moon, we can actually build this and build it well. At the same time, airline executives were meeting with DOT officials about reducing delays at Newark, which likely means cutting flights just as the busy summer travel season is starting. We already cut 35 and we expect we'll have to cut a few more. We'll make sure that we give customers appropriate notice and we'll also keep the global network almost 100% intact as well. If you're planning a trip to Paris, that trip is going to be there for you. What do you say to the people that are worried about the safety of operating in and out of Newark? I would say it is incredibly safe. There's always a redundant system for everything necessary to safely operate the aircraft. Our pilots are incredibly skilled to deal with the minor outages that may occur. Are you flying in and out of Newark? I am. We also learned that a key direct hotline between the Washington-Reagan National Air Traffic Control Tower and Pentagon controllers hasn't worked since 2022 and the FAA says they just learned about it. Tony?

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