Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy insisted Wednesday that he moved his wife’s flight away from Newark Airport to avoid delays—not because the troubled facility is unsafe, as one controller claims.
Duffy, 53, raised eyebrows this week when he admitted to switching his wife‘s flight away from the busy New Jersey airport, which has seen critical issues with its air traffic control infrastructure and staffing levels.
The embattled transportation secretary instead booked another flight for her out of LaGuardia Airport in New York.
“My wife was flying out of Newark tomorrow,” he told the host of The David Webb Show on Monday. “I switched her flight to LaGuardia.”
Newark Liberty International Airport, located in the country’s busiest airspace, has suffered three equipment outages in just two weeks, including a scare that forced commercial pilots to briefly fly blind without guidance from air traffic controllers.
The facility also reportedly had just three air traffic controllers working at times this week when the goal for full staffing is 14.
An air traffic controller even warned earlier this month that travelers should “avoid Newark at all costs” due to safety concerns.
Reports of these meltdowns have left many skittish about flying through the airport, which is the country’s 12th-largest by passenger volume.
Duffy has repeatedly assured that air travel is safe at Newark. However, in a House hearing on Wednesday, he acknowledged that his radio comments from earlier in the week could have given the wrong impression if taken out of context.
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, a Democrat from New Jersey, said in Wednesday’s hearing that Duffy had “diverted” his wife “from Newark airport to LaGuardia out of a sense of security.”
Duffy responded, “That’s not true.” He then clarified, “It’s partially true.”
“With all the delays at Newark—my wife had to do an event and she was in the city of New York, and so I did—I moved her from Newark to LaGuardia, not for safety, but because I needed her flight to fly,” Duffy said. “She had to get there.”
That answer was sufficient for Coleman, who responded, “I accept that. Thank you.”
Newark’s airport has suffered a rash of cancellations and delays this month, which has the Federal Aviation Administration considering cutting the number of flights the airport can handle each day. Among those hit hardest by the issues is United Airlines, which operates 68 percent of its daily flights out of the hub.
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