The air traffic control facility that leads planes at Newar Liberty International Airport shortened radar outages Friday morning, the latest technological disruption at one of the country's busiest airports.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the outage affected communications and radar displays at the Philadelphia facility occurred just before 4am, lasting about 90 seconds.
A similar 90-second stop last week took down a trip at the airport on Monday afternoon, preventing the controller from communicating with the pilot and causing the planes to crash with each other. Some controllers working that afternoon suffered from the episode and took a vacation. The result was a few days of staffing at the facility, resulting in a wide range of flight delays and cancellations.
Issues of Newark and other aviation safety concerns have been a major challenge for President Trump. A few days after he took office, an American Airlines plane crashed into an Army helicopter near Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington, killing all of both aircraft.
On Thursday, Transport Secretary Sean Duffy announced plans to modernize and overhaul the country's air traffic control system. The multi-billion dollar proposals include investments in new technologies and facilities. However, many details remain unknown, and the plan requires approval from Congress.
The latest suspension on Friday could heighten pressure on executive officials and lawmakers on action.
According to a public recording of the Air Traffic Control Communications with the pilot, the air traffic controller directing traffic in Newark mentioned the latest 1989 suspension of pilots to pilots.
“FedEx 1989, I'm going to hand you over here, our scope has turned black again,” the controller said. “If you're concerned about this, try to contact your airline and try to put pressure on them to fix something like this.”
“I'm sorry to hear about that,” replied the pilot.
ABC News previously reported the suspension.
The flight to and from Newark was delayed on Friday morning. The FAA has also launched a “ground delay program.” Due to the rains in and around New York City, Origin airports hosted flights to Newark for over 4 hours. Newark Airport is approximately 17 miles by car from midtown Manhattan.
A spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Newar Liberty, said the suspension would not affect passenger operations at the airport.
Newark has had problems for a long time. The FAA recently hoped to address the lack of staffing of air traffic controllers last summer by moving several businesses from Westbury, Long Island, Westbury, New York to Philadelphia. Controllers at the New York facility were fighting the relocation, but the FAA said they could recruit more controllers by moving work to more affordable areas.
About 10% of round-trips with Newark were cancelled from Wednesday to Wednesday last week, according to data from flight tracking service FlightAware. The other two airports serving the New York area have been much better. During the same period, only about 2% of flights cancelled at Lagardia Airport were cancelled at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Newark also saw much more delays than the other two airports.
The disruption has been particularly frustrating for United Airlines, which counts Newark as one of the eight airport hubs and controls traffic there. Of the three flights to and from the airport, two or more are sold by United. Various airlines account for the remaining flights, according to air data company Cirium.
In an email to employees this week, United CEO Scott Kirby said flights to and from the airport are safe. He said Newark is “the jewel of the region's crown,” but the airport is overwhelmed with more flights scheduled for most afternoons and evenings than the FAA can handle.
“This math isn't working,” he said. “As there are weather, staffing issues, or technical failures, the airspace, taxiways and runways will be backed up and something smooth will occur.”
To resolve the issue, Kirby said the FAA should reverse its 2016 decision to allow more flights at airports to promote competition in Newark.
At extremely busy airports around the world, including Kennedy and LaGuardia, aviation authorities may choose to strictly control the opportunities to take off and land, as known as “slots.” Newark was similarly slot-controlled, but the FAA relaxed these restrictions in 2016.
At the time, United were accused of not using several slots to maintain control at the airport. The airline criticized the decision in 2016, saying it would put an even more strain on New York airspace.
Michael Levenson and Patrick McGeehan contributed the report.
