FAA Investigates Fourth Technical Problem at Newark Liberty International Airport

Strategic Insights -

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating its fourth technical problem in less than a month at Newark Liberty International Airport, which has led to flight delays and cancellations. The latest issue occurred on Monday, when the Philadelphia air traffic control center responsible for handling flights at the airport lost radio frequencies for two seconds. This is the same control area that has encountered other problems, including staffing shortages and equipment failures. The FAA is considering reducing flights at the airport to mitigate the impact of the issues.

Key Takeaways:

  • The FAA is investigating its fourth technical problem at Newark Liberty International Airport in less than a month, with the latest issue occurring on Monday when the Philadelphia air traffic control center lost radio frequencies for two seconds.
  • This is the same control area that has encountered other problems, including staffing shortages and equipment failures, such as radar screens going blank for 90 seconds and radios being out for 30 seconds.
  • The FAA has issued a ground delay at the airport from 2:07 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. due to "staffing" issues, resulting in an average delay of 23 minutes for flights to Newark.
  • The control center has been dealing with staffing shortages, and only 22 certified professional controllers are currently filled out of 38 needed to operate the center that handles Newark flights.
  • Five controllers took a 45-day trauma leave after the April 28 outages, leaving the center severely understaffed.
  • The airport typically has 1,000 flights a day, including around 440 by United, with one of the three runways closed for long-planned rehab work until October 25.
  • The FAA wants to cut the maximum arrival rate of 28 aircraft an hour until the airport completes construction on the runway, which would then be raised to a maximum 34 an hour.

Statistics:

*The FAA is considering reducing flights at the airport to 28 aircraft an hour until the airport completes construction on the runway, which would then be raised to a maximum 34 an hour.

*The average delay for flights to Newark was 23 minutes on Monday, which was related to staffing issues.

*The control center has a staffing shortage of 16 certified professional controllers, with only 22 currently filled out of 38 needed.

*Five controllers took a 45-day trauma leave after the April 28 outages.

Sources:

  • CBS News
  • Fox News
  • NBC News
  • UPI
  • The New York Times