Radio Cuts Out At Newark Airport Again, Outage Adds To Growing List

NEWARK, NJ — Another radio outage took place for planes at Newark Airport in New Jersey on Monday, adding to a growing list of equipment malfunctions at the busy travel center.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that Philadelphia TRACON Area C – which has taken over the duties of separating and sequencing aircraft in and out of Newark Airport – experienced a brief radio outage for approximately two seconds around 11:35 a.m.

The agency said that all aircraft remained safely separated and operations are normal.

For the past few weeks, passengers at the busy airport 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)

The equipment issues caused a nerve-wracking experience on April 28, when air traffic controllers in Philadelphia – who have taken over the duties of separating and sequencing aircraft in and out of Newark Airport – temporarily lost contact with the planes under their guidance. Hundreds of delays, diversions and cancellations followed.

• See Related: Air Traffic Controllers Lost Contact With Planes At NJ Airport, Reports Say

On May 9, the FAA announced that another “telecommunications outage” impacted communications and radar display. The outage took place at 3:55 a.m. and lasted about 90 seconds.

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

Yet another “telecommunications issue” took place at Philadelphia TRACON Area C on May 11, with the FAA briefly slowing planes at Newark Airport, authorities reported.

FAA REDUCES FLIGHTS AT NEWARK AIRPORT

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy recently announced the beleaguered airport will be running at reduced capacity over the “next several weeks” – particularly in the afternoon hours. There are also plans to address the lack of air traffic controllers and chronic equipment issues, he says.

>> Read More: Chaos Prompts Federal Intervention At NJ Airport

>> Read More: Feds Limit Planes At Busy NJ Airport As Frustrating Delays Stack Up

On Monday, departures to Newark Airport were delayed an average of 23 minutes, according to the FAA.

Duffy has maintained it is safe to fly through Newark Airport, saying that his family members have flown there. He later defended a decision to switch his wife’s flight out of the airport, saying that it was done to ensure that she’d arrive at an event on time – not because of safety reasons.

Scott Kirby, the CEO of United Airlines – which has a hub in Newark – has also said that flights passing through the airport are “absolutely safe.”

However, the situation has created chronic delays and cancellations for passengers, which needs to be urgently addressed, he added.

“Newark Airport (EWR) is a crown jewel of the region and an international gateway for the United States – close to 50 million people flew through EWR last year – but the truth is there are more flights scheduled there than the FAA can handle,” Kirby recently wrote.

“In ideal weather, with full staffing and with perfectly functioning technology, the FAA tells us that the airport can only handle 77 flights per hour,” he continued. “And yet, the FAA regularly approves schedules of 80+ flights per hour almost every day between 3 and 8 p.m. This math doesn’t work. Especially when there is weather, staffing issues or technology breakdowns – the airspace, taxiways and runways get backed up and gridlock occurs.”

“In reality, only the FAA can actually fix Newark Airport,” Kirby insisted.

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