Newark International Airport faced its third equipment outage in the span of two weeks, with flight delays expected to rise, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Newark is also facing staffing shortages in air traffic control, busy runways and equipment issues.
The Trump administration said it would have an emergency meeting to discuss the steps it would need to take to prevent more telecom outages.
“The FAA has been slowing arrivals and departures at Newark Liberty International Airport due to runway construction at Newark and staffing,” the FAA wrote in a statement. “Technology issues at Philadelphia TRACON, which guides aircrafts in and out of the airport.”
The FAA-initiated 45-minute ground stop at Newark was caused due to issues at the Philadelphia terminal radar approach control, which guides aircrafts at Newark. Due to these issues, United Airlines canceled 35 daily round-trip flights from Newark till May 25.
“The airport clearly is unable to handle the current level of scheduled operations,” the FAA said.
The week before the equipment outage, Newark ATC computer screens went dark for about 60 to 90 seconds, which prevented controllers from communicating with aircrafts, putting flight safety in jeopardy.
This caused the FAA to briefly stop departures from Newark. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to act. Schumer wrote on X, calling for a “a full Inspector General investigation into what happened at Newark so these problems don’t get worse, or spread to airports across the nation.”
As of May 11, at least 80 flights have been canceled and 250 have been delayed. While this is a recurring issue at Newark, these problems could expand across the country. Duffy said on NBC’s Meet the Press, “What you see in Newark is going to happen in other places across the country.”
Earlier this month, Duffy proposed a plan to upgrade air traffic control. This plan would be used to update radio systems that the controllers use to talk with the pilots.
The proposal is missing how the government will pay for the upgraded equipment, which depends on support from Congress for the funding.
“We actually have to build a brand-new, state-of-the-art, air-traffic control system,” Duffy said at a news conference. “We have let this go for far too long.”
The FAA believes the new equipment would prevent continuous malfunctioning like what is occurring at Newark airport.
“Decades of neglect have left us with an outdated system that is showing its age. Building this new system is an economic and national security necessity, and the time to fix it is now,” he said.
