The delays and cancellations of Newark Airport, explained: NPR

Hundreds of flight delays and cancellations in one of the country’s busiest airports in recent days give headache and have stimulated the best democrat in the US Senate To call for an investigation into the cause.

Several composition problems strike both Newark Liberty International Airport: endowment shortages in the air controller, aging technology, bad weather and closing one of the busiest tracks of the airport.

On Monday, the head of the Senate minority, Chuck Schumer, from New York, said on X that he demanded “a complete investigation by the Inspector General on what happened in Newark, so these problems do not get worse or propagate airports across the country”.

At the end of the day, Newark had pointed out that 424 flights had been delayed on their way in and outside the airport and 160 flights canceled, according to the flight tracking website Flightaware.

Tuesday evening, Flightaware reported that around 340 flights were delayed on the incoming and out of Newark and 114 flights were canceled.

That morning, the Federal Aviation Administration imposed A new soil delay program For the airport and around 4 p.m., he estimated delays For planes arriving in Newark at more than 4 hours.

We talked about expert security experts and traveling to understand what’s going on.

What’s going on and what is the scope and scale of the disturbance?

Bad weather and The three -month closure For repairs to the busiest track of the airport for departure flights, delays exacerbated delays in Newark.

But the shortage of air traffic controllers is among the most serious problems in Newark – a problem that has affected airports across the country for years. He took on greater importance after the open -air collision of January 29 between a US Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional plane near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, who killed 67 people. A complete investigation into the accident will examine The role of air controllers may have had in the incident.

During the weeks preceding this accident, the Trump administration had started to dismiss hundreds of FAA employees as part of a federal effort to reduce workers. Officials said the controllers and other “critical security staff” were not one of those who are dismissed.

Multiple Almost-museum after The January collision has only stimulated more discussions on the need to improve the country’s air traffic control system.

Travelers check their flights to Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark on Monday. There have been hundreds of flight and cancellation delays in Newark, one of the country’s busiest airports in recent days

Seth Wenig / AP

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Seth Wenig / AP

On April 28, air traffic controllers stationed to control the radar approach to the Philadelphia terminal, which is responsible for the separation and sequencing of planes inside and leaving Newark, lost all radar and communications with an aircraft, letting them unable to hear or speak to the pilots.

Blackout communications lasted 30 seconds, according to transport secretary Sean Duffy and FAA, 90 seconds Depending on some reports – An “alarming” duration with regard to plane trips, said Hassan Shahidi, CEO of Flight Safety Foundation. The plane landed safely.

“Air traffic controllers need uninterrupted communications and radar in real time, and without that, they cannot be able to manage and see their planes in airspace,” said Shahidi, calling for an investigation to understand what did not work.

Several air traffic controllers have taken time to deal with the stress and trauma of this experience, said the union and the FAA in the declarations shared with NPR.

The FAA told NPR in a statement that this failure was not the only one to occur in recent days. He indicated that there were failures of “multiple” “multiple” equipment and telecommunications.

But, given the highly qualified work of air traffic controllers, it is quite difficult to fill these empty chairs – and this for some time.

In December, United CEO, Scott Kirby, told NPR That the FAA was short of around 3,000 air traffic controllers and said that the shortage would cause delays across the country. At the time, he underlined Newark, the United Hub of United, as an example of an airport that needed more staff to avoid long delays.

“For the whole month of November, we had more than half a million customers who were delayed due to air traffic control deficits in Newark only. This is the biggest problem, the greatest opportunity to improve air trips for customers in the United States,” Kirby said at the time.

Last Friday, Kirby, fed up with delays, announced that his airline immediately cancels 35 round-trip flights in Newark per day.

In a messageKirby wrote “We think there is no other choice to protect our customers.”

The FAA has made efforts to solve endowment problems. Last week, Duffy announcement A new recruitment program and a retention incentive program to stimulate the hiring of controllers.

There have been a lot of discussions on the aging of technology. How does it come into play?

Newark chaos highlights aging air traffic technology on which the airline industry is based, the air security consultant Jeff Guzzetti said to NPR Here and now Tuesday.

Air traffic controllers “are also challenged with equipment that is difficult to upgrade and become obsolete very quickly,” he said.

The FAA must tackle the modernization of its infrastructure and to ensure that more controllers work in traffic, added Guzzetti.

As flight delays and cancellations continue, the FAA said it made changes to ensure that the existing telecommunications equipment and automation system were more reliable.

Tuesday Afternoon outside the White HouseDuffy said he had proposed a plan to build a new air traffic control system to President Trump, who had signed the proposal.

Duffy also blamed Biden administration not to do enough to modernize the air traffic control system.

He said that the current system “is between 25 and 50 years old” with copper wires and archaic radios and a radar.

Should passengers worry about security?

No, not according to Duffy, FAA and aviation experts.

The FAA says that it guarantees continuous security “by slowing down the rate of arrivals in the airport” – which means delays and, in some cases, Newark cancellations.

The FAA and air traffic controllers “never compromise security,” said Shahidi, from Flight Safety Foundation. “If an installation is in sub-effective, it will certainly reduce the capacity but will not compromise safety.”

He said: “We have controllers who are trained and who do their job well. We have trained pilots and they do their work very well. And therefore from this point of view, we do not see a problem.”

How fast can this be resolved?

Sean Cudahy, a senior aviation journalist for the travel website The Points Guy, simply said: “There is not really good indication of the end of this.”

He added: “The problems that fuel it does not disappear anytime soon. You have this kind of overall shortage of air traffic controllers which has been really exacerbated here in recent days. They will not be back immediately, and you have the track construction and the thunderstorms you know will not continue to cause problems, in all risks.”

It will take a long time to contact the commercial aviation industry in a holistic way.

With regard to the staffing shortages of controller staff, Guzzetti, the aeronautical security consultant, said that work “takes unique skills. You must therefore find these people with these inherent skills, and you must then train them”.

Even after that, there is a “washing rate of 30%” and approximately two years more training once they finished the initial steps, according to Guzzetti.

“And it takes even more time to modernize the system,” he added.

How should passengers prepare if they fly through Newark?

Cudahy, with the points guy, urged passengers flying in and outside Newark to plan in advance.

He recommended take a look at their airline’s website for travel notices that could offer passengers the possibility of switching flights to another airport, such as La Laguardia nearby in New York.

What if your travel plans include a connection to Newark? Cudahy recommends abandoning them for a direct flight.

And finally, he reminds passengers the policy of the transport department which allows For a full refund If your flight is canceled or considerably delayed. But this refund is only available when a passenger does not accept a flight reserved for the original airline.

“If you accept the rejection of the rejection, even if it is 36 hours later, you would not be entitled to this reimbursement under federal policy,” said Cudahy.