Latest news with #TerminalRadarApproachControl
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
FAA defends moving Newark airspace control to Philadelphia
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday defended moving Newark Liberty International Airport's airspace control to Philadelphia in a statement released in the wake of recent turmoil in the airport's operations. 'There is a nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers, and the FAA for years has not met the staffing goal for the area that works Newark airspace,' the FAA said in a statement obtained by The Hill's sister network NewsNation. 'The persistent low staffing levels and low training success rate at New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), or N90, were contributing factors to moving control of the Newark airspace to the Philadelphia TRACON in 2024,' the agency added. Over the weekend, the FAA slowed traffic at Newark due to a telecommunications issue at the Philadelphia facility, which directs planes into and out of the airport. The move followed the airport recently garnering national attention for staffing issues and technological challenges. Late last month, air traffic controllers in Philadelphia lost communications and radar with planes at Newark for close to 90 seconds. Hundreds of flights faced cancellation or delay due to the breakdown in communication and the blackout. Air traffic controllers later took absences via the Federal Employees' Compensation Act, which lets federal workers who are injured or go through trauma on the job take time off, making the situation at Newark worse. The FAA also seemed to suggest in its Tuesday statement that the Philadelphia TRACON fit Newark's airspace staffing needs better than the New York TRACON. 'Philadelphia TRACON Area C, which directs aircraft in and out of Newark, has 22 fully certified controllers, 5 fully certified supervisors, and 21 controllers and supervisors in training,' the FAA said in the statement. 'Ten of those 21 controllers and supervisors are receiving on-the-job training. All 10 are certified on at least one position in Area C and three are certified on multiple positions. This means they can work those positions without supervision from an instructor.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
13-05-2025
- General
- The Hill
FAA defends moving Newark airspace control to Philadelphia
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday defended moving Newark Liberty International Airport's airspace control to Philadelphia in a statement released in the wake of recent turmoil in the airport's operations. 'There is a nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers, and the FAA for years has not met the staffing goal for the area that works Newark airspace,' the FAA said in a statement obtained by The Hill's sister network NewsNation. 'The persistent low staffing levels and low training success rate at New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), or N90, were contributing factors to moving control of the Newark airspace to the Philadelphia TRACON in 2024,' the agency added. Over the weekend, the FAA slowed traffic at Newark due to a telecommunications issue at the Philadelphia facility, which directs planes into and out of the airport. The move followed the airport recently garnering national attention for staffing issues and technological challenges. Late last month, air traffic controllers in Philadelphia lost communications and radar with planes at Newark for close to 90 seconds. Hundreds of flights faced cancellation or delay due to the breakdown in communication and the blackout. Air traffic controllers later took absences via the Federal Employees' Compensation Act, which lets federal workers who are injured or go through trauma on the job take time off, making the situation at Newark worse. The FAA also seemed to suggest in its Tuesday statement that the Philadelphia TRACON fit Newark's airspace staffing needs better than the New York TRACON. 'Philadelphia TRACON Area C, which directs aircraft in and out of Newark, has 22 fully certified controllers, 5 fully certified supervisors, and 21 controllers and supervisors in training,' the FAA said in the statement. 'Ten of those 21 controllers and supervisors are receiving on-the-job training. All 10 are certified on at least one position in Area C and three are certified on multiple positions. This means they can work those positions without supervision from an instructor.'
NBC News
12-05-2025
- NBC News
Newark Airport woes continue with ground delay and more than 80 cancelations
Travel woes continue today at the beleaguered Newark Liberty International Airport Airport in New Jersey with a ground delay in effect. The Federal Aviation Administration said Newark is operating on a ground delay program today, with departures to the airport delayed an average of 19 minutes, that will last through 9 p.m. ET. There were over 45 delays at the airport and over 80 cancellations thus far as of 9:30 a.m. ET, according to FlightAware data. Passengers waited patiently for their flights at the airport which has been at the center of a spate of issues, including a ground stop on Mother's Day Sunday. 'I was so nervous to fly into Newark,' one passenger said waiting for her flight Sunday told NBC New York. 'Overhauling the whole system I think is going to take a lot, maybe we can just start with Newark.' Newark experienced radar outages on Friday and Sunday, that led to dozens of cancellations and delays. Both cases were traced to the Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) network out of Philadelphia that guides flights in and out of Newark airspace. In the Friday outage, radar screens serving Newark went black early Friday morning shortly before 4 a.m. EDT for about 90 seconds on a limited number of sectors, the FAA said. Meanwhile on Sunday, Newark said it issued a ground stop 'due to FAA equipment outages' that lasted about 45 minutes. The FAA said there was a telecommunications issue at Philadelphia TRACON Area C, and the facilities backup system worked as it was intended, but the FAA slowed traffic to make sure it remained stable. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on"Meet The Press" on Sunday he was concerned about the events at Newark, and cast blame on telecommunications issues and glitches in software. He said the system for monitoring airspace and flights is outdated, said the airport will be 'up and running in short order.' But the transportation secretary assured the public it's safe to fly in and out of Newark. In the interim, Duffy said Newark will experience 'reduced capacity' in the coming weeks, and he'll convene a meeting of all the airlines that serve Newark about that reduction.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
Radar screens that serve troubled Newark Liberty International Airport briefly go dark
Radar screens serving Newark Liberty International Airport went black early Friday morning, raising more air traffic safety concerns at the busy New Jersey hub, federal authorities said. The outage shortly before 4 a.m. EDT lasted only 90 seconds on a limited number of sectors, the FAA said, but the blackout is still a troubling development in the wake of revelations that controllers lost radio contact with pilots flying into the airport in recent months. The difficulties were traced to Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) network out of Philadelphia. "There was a telecommunications outage that impacted communications and radar display at Philadelphia TRACON Area C, which guides aircraft in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport airspace," according to an FAA statement. "The outage occurred around 3:55 a.m. on Friday, May 9, and lasted approximately 90 seconds." A current veteran controller said the situation is getting worse by the day. 'It's a s--- show, the controller told NBC News. "There's new stuff every day. We work with a monkey on our back, knowing our equipment is not reliable. It's like driving your car, knowing the brakes will go out any time.' Any moment without radar access can have dire consequences, the controller said. 'It's just dangerous, period, if you lose your radar!" the controller said. "Any hour of the day is dangerous if you lose radar. Every second, the airspace changes because planes are constantly moving.' This latest snafu unfolded less than a day after federal authorities made an hour-plus presentation, explaining the inadequacies of American air traffic control systems and how they plan to upgrade it. The officials often cited Newark as an example of where outdated technology is impacting travelers. "And I guess you're having a big problem in Newark that seems to be the one of the moment, the flavor of the moment," President Donald Trump said Thursday. "The equipment on most airplanes in the sky is now generations ahead of the ground systems and recently, and you've seen this, the controllers lost contact with planes for 30 critical seconds at Newark." This article was originally published on
Global News
09-05-2025
- General
- Global News
Newark air traffic control briefly loses radar access 2nd time in 2 weeks
The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday that it suffered a new outage at a Philadelphia facility overseeing air traffic at Newark Liberty airport, the latest in a string of equipment woes that have hindered traffic and raised public alarm. The FAA said the telecommunications outage impacted communications and radar displays at Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control that guides aircraft in and out of Newark Liberty around 3:55 a.m. ET on Friday and lasted approximately 90 seconds. WABC reported air traffic controllers could be heard on a radio transmission telling a FedEx plane that their screens went dark. The latest incident highlights the air traffic control network's aging infrastructure and comes a day after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy proposed spending billions of dollars to fix it over the next three to four years. 1:48 Staff shortages at Air Traffic Control could impact travel The FAA said Wednesday it was taking immediate steps to address ongoing problems that have disrupted hundreds of flights at Newark since April 28 especially from United Airlines UAL.O, the largest carrier at the airport located just outside New York City. Story continues below advertisement The FAA said it is increasing air traffic controller staffing, adding three new, high-bandwidth telecommunications connections and deploying a temporary backup system to the Philadelphia TRACON during the switch to a more reliable fiber-optic network. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Duffy said Thursday that the FAA had two redundant lines 'both are up and working now' at Philadelphia. The FAA did not immediately answer why the backup did not prevent Friday's incident. Newark has been hit by runway construction, FAA equipment outages and air traffic control staffing shortages that prompted urgent calls from lawmakers for investigations and new funding. FlightAware said Newark on Friday is experiencing inbound flights delayed averaging more than four hours and departure delays averaging 1 hour or more. Duffy said Thursday controllers overseeing planes at the busy airport lost contact with aircraft on April 28 for 30 to 90 seconds, an incident that raised serious alarm. The FAA last year relocated control of the Newark airspace to Philadelphia to address staffing and congested New York City area traffic. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Additional reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo and Rajesh Kumar Singh Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
