Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Fox News’ Steve Doocy on Friday that Newark Liberty International Airport’s closed runway could reopen in less than two weeks — a move that he hopes will ease the ongoing delays caused by its closure.
Duffy said Newark’s closed runway will be reopened “very quickly” and that the runway could be ready “maybe in the next week.”
After being asked what is being done to alleviate the delays and cancellations facing airports across the country, Duffy gave a rundown of what he thinks are the major issues causing these delays.
“So listen — what’s happening is we have weather — it happens at this time of year, number one. Number two, we have a limited amount of controllers with 3,000 short nationally. And then, specifically in Newark, we have our runway that’s been shut down. It’s gonna open up very quickly,” he told Doocy. “The Port Authority has crushed it on speed.”
Duffy continued by noting that while it can be frustrating for air travelers to have their flights delayed or canceled, stating that the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) top priority remains ensuring passenger safety.
“Whether it’s weather, we might have some shortages of air traffic controllers. You know that we had telecom issues in Philadelphia, or in Newark, out of the Philly TRACON. So those factors all come into play. And the key is your safety,” Duffy said. “A lot of the questions that come though — is it safe to fly? And of course it is. We have so many redundancies in place, but we have to fix the system.”
The transportation secretary then dove into the details of how he predicts departures out of Newark Airport will improve after the runway and other improvements are complete.
“So 28 departures an hour. It used to be 50-54,” he claimed. “So when the runway opens, we’ll get to 34.”
Another issue plaguing Newark Airport, according to Duffy, is the fact that new air traffic controllers from other airspaces can’t simply be brought in to alleviate the shortage; they must first be trained on Newark’s airspace.
Duffy said there are currently 16 air traffic controllers in training at Newark, and that it typically takes six months to a year to become certified in a new airspace.
“Again, I can’t just snap my fingers and fix the problems that Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden left for me,” he said.
After being asked by Doocy about another issue facing the air traffic controller industry – the large numbers of controllers retiring – Duffy laid out his plan for incentivizing retirement-age controllers to stay on the job.
“Air traffic controllers can retire after 25 years of service. I’ve offered them a 20% upfront bonus to stay on after their eligible date of retirement,” he said. “This is a government job where you are paid very well. So to give them that bonus, I think it matters.”
Duffy said his goal is to keep experienced controllers while also expanding the pipeline to get more young people into the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Academy and working in the industry.
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