Ground stop briefly issued at Newark airport after weeks of travel chaos

Newark airport said the ground stop was due to “FAA equipment outages” and has since been lifted.

During last month’s outage, air traffic controllers in TRACON Area C lost communication with aircraft traveling to and from the airport, making them unable to see, hear or talk to them, according to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA).

It’s not clear what caused the communication loss, or how long the air traffic controllers lost communication with the aircraft.

The event led the air traffic controllers to take leave under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, which covers federal employees who are physically injured or experience traumatic events on the job, according to NATCA, a union that represents around 20,000 aviation professionals.

Since the incident, delays and cancellations of flights traveling into and out of Newark airport have been constant. Airlines, including United, have had to cancel hundreds of flights, and dozens of others have been diverted to other airports.

Many issues contributed to the disruptions, including understaffing, construction and several instances of technical equipment failure.

In an exclusive interview with “Meet the Press,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he is concerned about the whole of U.S. airspace after recent outages at Newark, adding that telecommunications issues and glitches in software are to blame.

“Now I think the lights are blinking, the sirens are turning, and they’re saying, ‘Listen, we have to fix this,’” he said. “Because what you see in Newark is going to happen in other places across the country. It has to be fixed.”

Duffy said he believes they’ll have Newark airport “up and running in short order.”

Over 85 flights traveling to and from Newark were delayed, and more than 80 were canceled as of Sunday morning, according to FlightAware.com.