On May 6, 2025, an airport control tower was seen at Newark, New Jersey at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Andres Kudacki | Getty Images
Air traffic controllers have been nervous for years, but 90 seconds Equipment failure Last month, the shortage of staff, underinvestment and patchwork solutions caused losses for those guiding aircraft through some of the world’s most crowded airspace.
The power outages have also triggered hundreds of flight delays, ruining thousands of days of travel. Less than two weeks later, on Friday, another similar power outage occurred at the same facility, despite overnight as the planes headed towards fewer and fewer.
Due to expensive delays, airline executives have been upgrading for years to address aging air traffic infrastructure and ultimately staff shortages.
Sean Duffy, CEO of the largest American airline in the United States, Department of Transportation Secretary, Thursday Revealed a plan To replace outdated radar and communication systems in U.S. airspace, the airline estimated overhaul could require Congress to approve more than $30 billion in funding.
Duffy didn’t provide a price tag, but said the job would cost billions, adding Thursday that it would require funding “before” Congress.
“The system we have here is not worth saving,” Duffy said at the event. “Too old.”
Airline, Airbus GE AerospaceLabor unions and other industry members on Thursday praised a $12.5 billion housing spending proposal to improve air traffic control and said another $18.5 billion in emergency funds are needed over the next three years to upgrade and improve staffing.
Some Democrats say Duffy’s new proposal inspired them but criticized the Trump administration for laying off dozens of FAA employees earlier this year, not including air traffic controllers.
D-Ill. “If the United States wants to be the gold standard for aviation safety, we need to invest wisely, rather than cancel investment and cut funds,” Senator Tammy Duckworth said in a statement Thursday.
What’s wrong with Newark?
On the afternoon of April 28, an air traffic controller at a Philadelphia facility was in charge of directing the plane to and from the plane to the Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey faced a dark radar screen and could not talk to the plane for more than a minute.
The interruption lasted about 30 seconds. The FAA said the plane reappeared on Radarscopes after another 30 to 60 seconds.
Pilots at major U.S. airlines said they were specially trained to deal with the disruption.
But even a few seconds of power outages are “a eternity for air traffic controllers,” said Jeff Guzzetti, a retired air safety investigator of the National Transportation Safety Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The incident is not the first time a device blackout attacked the facility, so some people “take time to recover from the multiple recent power outages”, the FAA said.
More than 1,500 Newark flights in Newark were postponed in the week following the power outage, according to Flightaware. United AirlinesHub from Newark Cut 35 flights a day From its timetable to reducing stress on its operations and customers.
Later on Friday, the FAA said it plans to meet with airlines on Wednesday to see Newark’s potential flight cuts to ease the pressure there.
The Newark runway has also been closed for construction, adding disruptions.
A similar radar and communication disruption occurred on the plane supervising arriving and departing from Newark Airport before dawn Friday.
New steps
The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it will strengthen staffing at its Philadelphia plant and work to fix communication lines to feed data to controllers there for Newark flights. It said it plans to install a temporary backup system here to “provide redundancy during switching to a more reliable fiber network.”
New upgrades cannot appear soon.
“We have computers, I’m not today’s 2025 based on Windows 95 and floppy disks,” Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said in a March interview.
The FAA said last year that its towers had an average age of 40 and most radar systems were close to 40 years old. “Aging facilities increase the risk of system, including the risk of service disruptions,” it said.
Duffy announced the plan Thursday, requiring replacement of the 618 radar and construction of six new air traffic control centers, and installing new fiber, wireless and satellite systems to replace the old communications system.
People lined up to delay flights at Newark International Airport in Newark, New Jersey on May 5, 2025.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
The accident caused a sense of urgency
The April 28 incident and previous disruptions caused no accidents, but the failures have made people more concerned about outdated systems and long-term shortages of air traffic controllers, especially in the busy airspace of New York City.
The FAA said U.S. air traffic controllers have to do about 45,000 flights a day.
After Blackhawk Army helicopters, the urgency to solve lingering problems has reached a new level collision and American Airlines The regional jet killed all 67 people on the plane on January 29. Yes The most fatal Since 2001, the US has collapsed.
“There should not be a tragedy to solve this problem.” JetBlue Airlines “As the only airline based in New York City, we know the delays and challenges of air traffic control are very good,” CEO Joanna Geraghty said at a transportation department event in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.
“Let’s get this done,” she said.
Why is Newark such a problem?
Newark has begun dealing with space constraints.
According to its operators, the New York and New Jersey Port Authority, it processed about 414,000 flights last year, 11% less than John Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York. But Newark is about half as good as Kennedy.
Newark has been particularly severe in recent days. Last year, the FAA moved controllers to Newark from a facility in Long Island, New York, where the plane was also sequenced to and from Laguardia Airport and JFK in Queens to a remote area of Philadelphia. The move aims to relieve congestion and pressure on Long Island facilities, but problems remain.
The interior view of Newark Airport is a journey that travelers face eight days of massive delays in eight consecutive days, United Airlines canceled routes and staff shortages in Newark, New Jersey, United States, May 6, 202
Mostafa Bassim | Anadolu | Getty Images
Air traffic shortages make a desire to take advantage of powerful airline executives Require However, due to the lack of controllers, it faces high costs.
“Remember, this particular air traffic control facility has been popular for years and without these controllers, it’s obvious now – the FAA told us – Newark Airport can’t handle the number of aircraft planned to operate here in the coming weeks and months,” Co-CEO Scott Kirby told customers on May 2.
Four flights per day were cancelled in Newark in April before April 26, but the average daily flights rose to 39 per day, according to airline analytics company Cirium. Cirium said about 80% of flights were scheduled in April before that date, but fell to 63%, “far below industry norms.”
Slow down
US Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks outside the White House in Washington, DC, on May 6, 2025.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters
Duffy said air travel is safe. After visiting the Philadelphia plant after the April 28 blackout, he said the FAA would slow down if it wasn’t a stop, if it wasn’t a stop, and would arrive completely.
Manchester United CEO Kirby told employees in a memo Wednesday that it was safe to travel to and from Newark. He said the carrier’s pilot had thousands of hours of experience and procedure training to “if the control personnel lose radio contact to safely reach the destination, communications could be re-established.”
Airlines have sought capacity limits to help with traffic jams, and the final disturbance is no exception.
“United States has been urging the U.S. government to use its power to effectively limit the number of flights to airports that can actually be processed,” Kirby said in a note to employees. “The failure to make these changes in the past has led to solidarity and most importantly what our customers are facing now.”
In 2016, the FAA relaxed flight restrictions at airports, and Kirby said the FAA should return to previous rules.
“It has been a long time to treat EWR,” he told employees in a note on Wednesday. “We will continue to work closely with the FAA and the Ministry of Transport to determine the EWR once and for all and will provide the country with the best-in-class air transportation system it deserves.”
Insufficient staffing
According to the Natca executive union, the U.S. has about 10,800 air traffic controllers, far more than 3,000.
“In the past eight years, we have 146,000 applicants and we have employed 7,905,” Chris Wilbanks, vice president of mission support, conducted an interview in March. “Less than 10% of those applying for jobs actually enter the academy at (Oklahoma Training) Academy and then graduates enter the field.”
Manchester United Airlines Captain Deon Byrne checked her phone on May 6, 2025 when she arrived at Terminal C at Newark, New Jersey.
Andres Kudacki | Getty Images
In the last fiscal year, the FAA aimed to hire 1,800 controllers.
“We will lose 35% of the academy. Once they get on site, we will lose another 20% in the job training. So we won’t purify 1,800 controllers,” Wilbanks said.
Hard work requires air traffic controllers to retire at the age of 56, while applicants at the college may not be over 30 years old. Many people are forced to work for six days due to the shortage.
Duffy recently took action to increase financial incentives, such as higher salaries for air traffic controllers. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the union’s Daniels said the starter salary is about $45,000, although the median U.S. air traffic controllers are $144,580 a year.
