Airports

Flight Delays and Cancellations Plague Major US Airports

Strategic Insights

May 11, 2025 — 1 min read

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has announced plans to reduce the number of flights in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport for several weeks, citing radar outages and air traffic controller shortages as major concerns. The move comes as radar issues at the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) facility in Philadelphia caused brief delays and cancellations at Newark Airport on Sunday. This incident follows a similar radar outage on April 28 and comes amidst other issues at major US airports, including a runway equipment issue at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport that delayed hundreds of flights.

Key Takeaways:

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy plans to reduce flights in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport for several weeks due to radar outages and air traffic controller shortages.
A telecommunications issue at the FAA's facility in Philadelphia briefly slowed aircraft in and out of Newark Airport on Sunday, but operations returned to normal after technicians addressed the issue.
The FAA reported a similar radar outage on April 28, which also affected flights at Newark Airport.
A runway equipment issue at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport delayed hundreds of flights on Sunday.
As of 1 p.m., more than 200 departure flights were delayed at Atlanta Airport.
Over 250 incoming flights were affected by the runway equipment issue at Atlanta Airport.

Statistics:

200+ departure flights delayed at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as of 1 p.m. Sunday.
250+ incoming flights affected by the runway equipment issue at Atlanta Airport.
90 seconds: the duration of the radar outage at the FAA's facility in Philadelphia on Friday.
3:55 a.m.: the time the radar at the FAA's facility in Philadelphia went black on Friday.
28 April: the date of a previous radar outage at the FAA's facility in Philadelphia.

Sources:

The Associated Press

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's meeting with airlines

Meet the Press (NBC)

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

FlightAware (flight-tracking website)

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