The outage at Newark Liberty International Airport last Monday caused air traffic control computer screens to go dark for roughly 60 to 90 seconds, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the incident. It prevented the controllers from talking to aircraft during this time as well.
In the air traffic control recordings obtained by ABC News, you can hear an air traffic controller telling pilots that “approach lost all the radars. Three of the four radar screens went black and they have no frequency.”
As a result, the Federal Aviation Administration halted all departures to the Newark airport, citing “telecommunications and equipment issues at Philadelphia TRACON.” This is the air traffic control facility that directs aircraft in and out of the Newark airport.
Following the outage, several controllers went on medical leave, calling the experience a traumatic event. The controllers are entitled to at least 45 days away from the job and must be evaluated by a doctor before they can return to work.
“Due to the event, the controllers took absence under the Federal Employees Compensation Act. This program covers all federal employees that are physically injured or experience a traumatic event on the job,” the union representing air traffic controllers said in a statement Monday.
The facility where controllers work the airspace around Newark airport is located in Philadelphia and was already short air traffic controllers. The current shortage has forced airlines to delay flights for hours over the last eight days.
“Frequent equipment and telecommunications outages can be stressful for controllers,” the FAA said in a statement on Monday. “Some controllers at the Philadelphia TRACON who work Newark arrivals and departures have taken time off to recover from the stress of multiple recent outages. While we cannot quickly replace them due to this highly specialized profession, we continue to train controllers who will eventually be assigned to this busy airspace.”
United Airlines planes land and prepare to take off at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J., Jan. 27, 2025.
Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters, FILE
Flight cancellations have increased at Newark in the wake of the outage, according to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company. Since April 26, an average of 39 flights per day have been canceled, compared to an average of four flights per day canceled in April, according to Cirium. On-time performance has also degraded; Newark departures were on average about 80% on time prior to April 26 and have since fallen to 63%, below industry norms, Cirium found.
United Airlines removed 35 round-trip flights per day to help ease congestion and lessen the impact on its customers. As of 3:30 p.m. Monday, flights were arriving four hours delayed on average into Newark.
“This particular air traffic control facility has been chronically understaffed for years and without these controllers, 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 wrote in a letter to customers. “United is committed to doing absolutely everything in our power to minimize the impact that this will have on customers and so we are unilaterally cancelling 35 roundtrip flights per day from our Newark schedule starting this weekend.”
Kirby continued, “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.”
United Airlines issued a “flexibility” travel waiver that allows passengers traveling to and from the Newark Airport to reschedule their trip without any additional fees.
The nightmare delays at Newark airport were also a result of runway construction delays and bad weather in the New York City metro area.
Newark was at the No. 1 spot of all airports in the world for delays and cancellations on Monday afternoon.
“Our antiquated air traffic control system is affecting our workforce,” the FAA said in a statement Monday. “As [Transportation] Secretary [Sean] Duffy has said, we must get the best safety technology in the hands of controllers as soon as possible. We are working to ensure the current telecommunications equipment is more reliable in the New York area by establishing a more resilient and redundant configuration with the local exchange carriers. In addition, we are updating our automation system to improve resiliency.”
