This Move Could Help Ease Delays At Newark Airport, NJ Congressman Says

NEWARK, NJ — A congressman from New Jersey says he has an idea to help cope with a chronic shortage of air traffic controllers at Newark Airport: recruit from the military.

For the past two weeks, passengers at Newark Airport in New Jersey have been pulling their hair out over a series of cancellations and delays. A lack of air traffic controllers and antiquated, malfunction-prone equipment is being blamed for many of the problems. Other factors that are adding to the chaos include ongoing runway construction and passenger totals that are among the highest in the airport’s history.

>> Read More: Newark Airport ‘Chaos’ Continues (5 Reasons Behind The Delays)

U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), a Democratic candidate for governor in New Jersey, has been among the elected officials who have been demanding swift action at Newark Airport.

On Friday, Gottheimer urged federal authorities to establish a training program that would “fast-track” military combat controllers to become FAA-certified air traffic controllers.

According to the congressman, military combat controllers have the experience to help the current staffing crisis, but are bogged down by red tape and a two-to-three-year certification process.

He also called for emergency funding from the federal government to address equipment failures, and said authorities should shift more air traffic controllers to Newark, one of the busiest in the nation.

The congressman blasted the Trump administration for recently “gutting the FAA” and firing 400 workers – adding to the staffing shortage and worsening the crisis.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy previously said that “zero air traffic controllers and critical safety personnel were let go” as part of the federal budget cuts. Union representatives have claimed that some of the jobs on the chopping block included aviation safety assistants, maintenance mechanics and nautical information specialists, the Associated Press reported.

• Read More: Firing FAA Workers Is 'Stupid'; NJ Congressman Blasts Trump Layoffs

Duffy has linked the tech failures at Newark Airport to an “incredibly old” and outdated system, which still uses floppy disks and copper wires.

“The system that we’re using is not effective to control the traffic that we have in the airspace today,” the transportation secretary said at a recent news conference, adding that the system is safe but prone to causing delays.

• See Related: Newark Airport Loses Radar Contact For 2nd Time In 2 Weeks: FAA

Duffy discussed plans to boost the number of air traffic controllers across the nation last week, outlining a blueprint for an aggressive recruitment campaign. He said the agency is on track to hire at least 2,000 controllers in the U.S. this year.

Meanwhile, there’s a plan in the works to take immediate steps to fix the equipment malfunctions by “accelerating technological and logistical improvements,” the FAA said.

• See Related: Chaos Prompts Federal Intervention At NJ Airport

Gottheimer demanded that the Trump administration and Duffy send an emergency funding request to Congress to fund their air traffic control overhaul plan in time for a vote on June 1.

The congressman said the need for changes at the beleaguered airport are urgent:

“Since May 5, there have been more than 1,700 cancellations and delays at Newark Airport — many of them last minute. Last week, a copper wire fried in the outdated tower and wiped out all communications between controllers and planes for 90 seconds, causing five air traffic controllers to go on trauma leave, further worsening delays and cancellations. New reporting reveals that another 90-second communications outage occurred earlier this morning. A recording of the announcement can be found here.”

‘ALARMING AND DISTURBING’: NJ OFFICIALS URGE ACTION

Meanwhile, other elected officials on both sides of the political aisle continue to demand action at Newark Airport.

New Jersey Sen. Jon Bramnick – a Republican candidate for governor – recently asked the FAA to take “all necessary steps” to fix the staffing shortages and technology issues at Newark Airport “as soon as possible.”

“EWR is one of the busiest airports in the world – serving more than 48 million passengers each year – and those travelers deserve an experience without the avoidable and sometimes extreme delays caused by the staffing and technology shortcomings of the FAA,” Bramnick charged.

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker – a Newark resident – recently penned a letter to Duffy about the delays and cancellations.

Booker pointed to the equipment malfunctions and staffing shortages, asking the Trump administration to direct additional staff and resources towards Newark Airport and the Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facility, where air traffic controllers for Newark are based.

“These issues, along with the termination of thousands of employees that directly support the FAA’s day-to-day operations, are putting an additional strain on the FAA and our aviation system at a time when public safety has come under well-deserved scrutiny after recent accidents,” Booker said.

“I appreciate that the USDOT has already responded to this ongoing situation by identifying the importance of technology upgrades across the entire air traffic control system, and I am committed to supporting these efforts in Congress,” he added.

Three state lawmakers from New Jersey’s 29th district – Sen. Teresa Ruiz and Assemblywomen Eliana Pintor Marin and Shanique Speight – also urged action from federal officials, calling the recent radar blackouts “alarming and disturbing.”

“While we recognize the Federal Aviation Administration’s incremental steps toward modernization, including fiber optic upgrades and workforce expansion, the pace and scope of improvements must match the urgency of the situation,” the legislators wrote in a joint statement.

“These outages should not become our new normal,” they added.

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