Air traffic auditors soon lost contact with airplanes at Newark Liberty International Airport last week, according to the Workers’ Union, a revelation that came as travelers expanded in a second week.
Galen Munroe, a representative of the Union, the National Air Traffic Union, said on April 28, auditors at a Philadelphia Air Traffic Control Center responsible for the separation and sequence of aircraft inside and outside the airport ” “unable to see, hear or talk to them.”
He didn’t say how long the disorder lasted, but Bloomberg said it was 90 seconds.
The distribution of communication has led to hundreds of delays and cancellations and three dozen flight diversions that day, according to Aidan O’Donnell, the General Manager of New Jersey airports to the New York Port Authority and New Jersey. He added that for two hours in the afternoon, no flight departed or landed in Newark.
As a result of the loss of communication, Mr Munroe said, the auditors have taken absences under a law that allows federal workers who are injured or experiencing a traumatic event at work. They do not “walk from work” as reported by the media, “Mr Munroe said in a statement.
The Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged in a statement Monday that “the outdated air traffic control system affects our workforce”. He said he worked to ensure that telecommunications equipment is more reliable in the New York area.
“Frequent equipment and telecommunications holidays can be stressful for auditors,” FAA said.
Some of the Philadelphia auditors who help to coordinate arrivals and departures in Newark “have taken the time to recover from the stress of multiple recent holidays,” the organization added. “While we cannot replace them quickly because of this specialized profession, we continue to train auditors that will eventually be entrusted to this busy airspace.”
The revelation comes as one of Newark’s three corridors has been closed for construction and as air traffic control centers have experienced staffing shortages. United said last week that it was forced to cut 35 return flights per day from the Newark program.
Low clouds on Monday prompted FAA to stop departures of aircraft heading to Newark, leading to average four -hour delays and exacerbating travel chaos at one of the nation’s busiest airports. More than 300 flights inside and outside Newark had been delayed and more than 150 were canceled by Monday afternoon, according to the tracking Flightaware site.
At the UNITED main terminal in Newark on Monday, whose flights had been canceled expressed their disappointment by directly to online customer service agents.
Phyllis Dotzen Rod said she hoped to fly home at Myrtle Beach, SC after visiting her son in Manhattan, but her flight was canceled after she arrived at the airport. Her son left for Asia and was not sure what to do, she said.
“I am stressed at the moment,” said Ms Dotzen Rod as she waited on the line at a Terminal C help office that closed exactly as she arrived on the front of the line. “Now I don’t know where to go.”
Adding her frustration, she said, she had been given a voucher for a meal and a hotel, but failed to understand how to appear on her phone.
Judith Davis, whose flight to Columbus, Ohio, was canceled due to bad weather, said she had waited 45 minutes on the phone for a customer service agent. They were among travelers looking for desperate alternative flights to Terminal C on Monday.
“I am very upset, I have to come back today,” Ms Davis said, expressing frustration with the lack of help at the terminal. “You’re a bit with yours to try to understand it.”
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York called on the inspector’s office on Monday to investigate the problems in Newark, saying that a “real criminal appearance” on security was needed and needed outdated technology.
“To say that there is only little turmoil at Newark Airport and FAA which would be the depreciation of the year,” said Schumer, minority leader, at a press conference. “We’re here because FAA is really a mess.”
He said that problems in Newark could be a “harbinger if such issues are not stable”. He blamed FAA mismanagement and cuts imposed by Trump’s administration on staffing and warned that other nation airports could face similar problems if not addressed.
The New York and New Jersey Port Authority, which operates Newark Airport as well as Kennedy International and Laguardia airports in New York, in a statement Monday that the lack of staffing at the Air Traffic Control Centers.
“The Port Authority has invested billions to modernize Newark Liberty, but these improvements depend on a fully staffed and modern federal air traffic system,” the Port Authority said. “We continue to encourage FAA to deal with ongoing staffing deficiencies and accelerate the long -term upgrades of technology that continue to delay the nation’s busiest air corridor.”
In a statement on Friday, Scott Kirby, chief executive of United Airlines, the largest Newark carrier, attributed recent cancellations to equipment failures and said 20 % of air traffic controllers at the airport “left the job”.
As a result, he added, there were “dozens of flight diversions, hundreds of late and canceled flights and worst of all, thousands of customers with disturbed travel plans”.
About 68 % of more than 3,300 scheduled departures in Newark this week were sold by United, according to Cirium, an aviation data company.
Paul Rinaldi, a former president of the National Air Traffic Association, who is now a senior vice -president of business and security in America’s airlines, said the systems auditors are not working “on an optimal level”.
“The issue is the lack of confidence from the auditors in systems because of the holidays that have been in the last eight months,” he said.
Last week, Sean Duffy, US Secretary of US Transport, announced a series of incentives that said it would “overload the Air Traffic Auditor”, including $ 5,000 in new recruitment and graduates of the Academy.
On Monday, New Jersey’s Philip D. Murphy wrote to Mr Duffy to support this plan. “Decades of undergoing critical air traffic control infrastructure, delays in upgrading to modern 21st century air traffic control technology, and inadequate air traffic control has led to a fragile system at national level,” Mr Murphy said.
It was not clear when the delays would be clear at Newark Airport and bad weather was likely to contribute to headaches for Newark travelers as well as other airports in the subway area.
A Delta spokesman said the airline had canceled three regional return flights to Newark due to air traffic control restrictions. Passengers on these flights were automatically reinstated on flights to Laguardia and Kennedy airports.
But these airports were also affected by the weather. Incoming and outbound flights to Laguardia are about an hour due to low clouds.
Clouds and rain can limit flights inside and outside the area to the middle of the week. The rain can increase in intensity on Monday, with some thunderstorms as well. The probability of a shower will remain on Wednesday.
Judson Jones and Niraj chokshi References contribute.
