Another Newark airport disruption as Trump's transportation secretary
talks of reducing flights
[May 12, 2025]
By The Associated Press
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says he plans to reduce the number
of flights in and out of Newark's airport for the “next several weeks”
as it struggles with radar outages and other issues, including another
Sunday that again slowed air traffic.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press" that aired Sunday, Duffy said he will
meet this week with all major carriers flying through Newark Liberty
International, New Jersey’s largest airport. He said the number of
flight cutbacks would fluctuate by time of day with most targeting
afternoon hours when international arrivals make the airport busier.
In addition to equipment outages, the airport has been been beset by
flight delays and cancellations brought on by a shortage of air traffic
controllers.
“We want to have a number of flights that if you book your flight, you
know it’s going to fly, right?” he said. “That is the priority. So you
don’t get to the airport, wait four hours, and then get delayed.”
The Federal Aviation Administration reported a “telecommunications
issue” as the latest setback Sunday, impacting a facility in
Philadelphia that directs planes in and out of Newark airport. An FAA
statement said the agency briefly slowed air traffic to and from the
airport while ensuring “redundancies were working as designed” before
normal operations resumed.
Infrastructure issues are increasingly a key concern at airports around
the country.
In an unrelated incident, hundreds of flights were delayed Sunday at
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport — one of the world’s
busiest — because of a runway equipment issue. The FAA said in a
statement that it temporarily slowed arrivals into Atlanta while
technicians worked to address the problem.
In Newark, Sunday's disruptions came two days after radar at the
Philadelphia facility went black for 90 seconds at 3:55 a.m. Friday, an
episode that was similar to an incident on April 28.
The Trump administration recently proposed a multibillion-dollar
overhaul of the U.S. air traffic control system, envisioning six new air
traffic control centers and technology and communications upgrades at
all of the nation’s air traffic facilities over the next three or four
years.
The FAA said last week that it slows the rate of arrivals into Newark to
ensure safety whenever staffing or equipment issues arise. The agency
also noted that frequent equipment and telecommunications outages can be
stressful, prompting some air traffic controllers to take time off "to
recover from the stress.”
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Chris Rocheleau, acting administrator of the Federal Aviation
Administration, left, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy,
right, speak about a new air traffic control infrastructure plan,
Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree
Nikhinson)
“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,” the FAA said in a May 5 statement.
On average, there had been 34 arrival cancellations per day since
mid-April at Newark, according to the FAA, with the number of delays
increasing throughout the day from an average of five in the
mornings to 16 by the evening. The delays tended to last 85 to 137
minutes on average.
Duffy said in his TV appearance Sunday that he wants to raise the
mandatory retirement age for air traffic controllers from 56 to 61,
as he tries to navigate a shortage of about 3,000 people in that
specialized position.
And he also spoke of wanting to give those air traffic controllers a
20% upfront bonus to stay on the job. However, he says many air
traffic controllers choose to retire after 25 years of service,
which means many retire around the age of 50.
“These are not overnight fixes,” Duffy said. “But as we go up — one,
two years, older guys on the job, younger guys coming in, men and
women — we can make up that 3,000-person difference.”
Adding more air traffic controllers is in contrast to a top priority
of the Trump administration — slashing jobs in nearly all other
federal agencies.
However, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said on CBS' “Face the
Nation” that Duffy deserves credit for putting “caution tape” around
FAA safety functions and separating those personnel from
cost-cutting by Trump's Department of Government Efficiency — DOGE.
Kirby said United has already reduced its schedule at Newark and
will meet with Duffy later this week. He expects a deeper cut in
capacity to last until June 15 when construction work on one of
Newark's runways is expected to be complete, though he thinks some
reductions will last throughout the summer.
“We have fewer flights, but we keep everything safe, and we get the
airplane safely on the ground,” Kirby said. “Safety is number one,
and so I’m not worried about safety. I am worried about customer
delays and impacts.”
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