Second radar outage for Newark Airport in 2 weeks leaves more flyers stranded

Newark Liberty International Airport suffered its second air traffic control outage in two weeks Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration confirms, capping another week of problems for travelers heading to and from New Jersey. 

“There was a telecommunications outage that impacted communications and radar display at Philadelphia TRACON Area C, which guides aircraft in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport airspace.  The outage occurred around 3:55 a.m. on Friday, May 9, and lasted approximately 90 seconds,” the FAA said in a statement to CBS News New York.

Friday’s incident occurred just as flight schedules were starting to get back to normal after the first equipment outage on April 28 set off a chain of delays and cancellations that flyers have been dealing with ever since. 

Over 450 flights to and from Newark were delayed Friday, and 141 were canceled, though heavy rain played a role in those delays and cancellations. 

Widespread delays continue at Newark Airport

The second air traffic outage happened less than 24 hours after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the Trump administration’s plan to overhaul the U.S. air traffic control system and replace outdated equipment, which has been blamed for hundreds of delays at Newark over the last two weeks. That plan includes six new air traffic control centers, upgrades to telecommunications systems at 4,600 sites, 2,500 new radios and 618 replacement radars.

“I’m concerned. This system that we use, much of the equipment, you have to buy on eBay. No one makes it anymore. That’s how old the system is,” Duffy said.

Duffy said if he gets the funding from Congress, the upgrades could take up to four years to complete.

When the widespread delays started last week, crews at the Philadelphia air traffic control facility lost radar and communication with planes in Newark’s airspace for at least 30 seconds. The union representing air traffic controllers said multiple controllers took trauma leave after the equipment failure.

“Imagine a minute and a half with no communication and all those lives relying on you,” New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer said.

Duffy called that incident a frightening example of the need for improvements. He said it lasted between 30-90 seconds. 

Duffy hopes air traffic control shortage ends this summer

Duffy also appeared Friday on “CBS Mornings” and said the lines that went down last week were now working.

“The main line that feeds information into Newark, that went down, the secondary line didn’t stand up. And so both lines are now working. We have a little bit of issues with our air traffic controllers. Some of them have stepped out of the tower. They were stressed. So we’re training new individuals in the Philly TRACON, which services Newark and we’re building a whole, new fiber-driven system down in Philly that does serve the Newark Airport. So, listen, we’re in a situation where it’s going to take us a little bit of time. I hope by this summer, we’re gonna be fully functioning,” Duffy said.

United Airlines has been limiting flights to and from Newark amid the problems. 

“It’s now clear — and the FAA tells us — that Newark airport cannot handle the number of planes that are scheduled to operate there in the weeks and months ahead,” United CEO Scott Kirby said. “It’s disappointing to make further cuts to an already reduced schedule at Newark, but since there is no way to resolve the near-term structural FAA staffing issues, we feel like there is no other choice in order to protect our customers.”  

The FAA and transportation officials have insisted Newark airspace remains safe since traffic is being slowed into and out of the airport, hence the delays. 

Travelers, officials exasperated

Flyers were getting a late start to their weekend due to growing delays and cancelations. 

“It’s a mess here. It really is a mess here,” traveler Amanda Dana said. 

“At first it said one hour, then two hours, then four hours,” traveler Teresa Ellerbe said. 

“I was on the way to the airport when they canceled me for the second cancellation. Now my flight is supposed to go at 9 p.m., and they said they think that’ll probably be canceled as well,” traveler Sean Cleveland said. 

“Enough is enough. The connection between New York air space and the Philadelphia air traffic control center must be fixed now. The backup system that is not working must be fixed. Now. This is an air travel safety emergency that requires immediate and decisive action, not a promise of a big, beautiful unfunded overhaul that will take years to begin to implement. The skies over New York City are some of the busiest in the world. This cannot happen again,” Sen. Charles Schumer said. 

“Right now, the airport simply lacks the FAA tower staffing levels, modern technology and infrastructure we need to make sure this airspace, the busiest in the world, runs efficiently, smoothly and safely 24/7,” Gottheimer said. 

contributed to this report.