Newark Liberty International Airport was once again thrown into chaos after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded flights over “equipment issues.”
An unknown disruption caused air traffic control’s communication systems to go silent from approximately 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EST, ABC News reported. In response, the FAA dramatically cut traffic arriving at the airport from the usual 40-42 flights per hour to 28.
Delays averaged around two hours. Air traffic, which is managed from the Philadelphia Air Traffic Control Center, was spaced so that arrivals landed around 20 miles apart.
“The FAA is pausing some flights into Newark Liberty International Airport due to equipment issues. We are investigating the cause,” the FAA said in a statement.
The pause marked the second technical disruption to hit the airport in a week. On Wednesday, flights were placed on hold after pilots reported issues hearing call signs from controllers, TalkRadio 98.3 reported.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy previously blamed Newark’s technical hiccups on the Biden administration, singling out former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. According to Duffy, the transfer of control of Newark’s airspace to the Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control (Tracon) in July 2024 had been botched, leading Newark travelers to be hit with scores of delays and cancellations.
At a May news conference addressing a ground stop at the airport following an outage at a traffic control facility, Duffy suggested it was poorly handled because Buttigieg worked from home, the New York Post reported.
“Maybe when you work from home, or maybe when you work from Michigan as a secretary, maybe you’re not focused on the real issues that are taking place throughout the airspace,” Duffy said.
At the conference, Duffy also blamed the “Biden-Buttigieg administration” for failing to upgrade the Philly Tracon system to the more modern Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS)—which is used by a majority of air traffic control centers around the United States.
Duffy has not yet addressed this week’s communication challenges at Newark. In May, the secretary said a new STARS system would be added to Philly but did not say how long it would take.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Department of Transportation for clarification on whether there have been any updates to Philly’s air traffic control system.
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