FAA, DOT reveal plans to modernize air traffic control, reduce delays
In the wake of technology failures at Newark Liberty International Airport, the plans are aimed at improving safety and efficiency for air travel.
- Newark airport is experiencing disruptions because of outdated air traffic control equipment and staffing shortages.
- The FAA is working on long-term solutions, but travelers should expect continued delays and cancellations.
- Airlines are adjusting schedules, and passengers should monitor flight statuses closely.
After another equipment outage briefly disrupted arrivals at Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday, travelers may be left wondering why this keeps happening and what it means for them.
The short answer: The Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control facilities often rely on ancient equipment, and a recent move of Newark’s controllers from New York to Philadelphia required a new information relay that has been at the center of the outages over the last few months. A handful of air traffic controllers have also taken medical trauma leave in the aftermath of the first outage on April 28.
While the Department of Transportation said it has a plan to fix these issues, it will take time, and funding is not yet secure.
“We’ve had years of neglect, decades of neglect. It’s been a patchwork of fixes,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a press event on Thursday. “This technology is 50 years old that our controllers use to scan the skies to keep airplanes separated from each other.”
And while he insisted that the U.S. airspace remains safe, he acknowledged that these problems need to be addressed as quickly as possible.
In the meantime, airlines are reducing their schedules at Newark as the FAA tries to manage the airspace around the airport with the resources it currently has available.
What do Newark’s outages mean for travelers?
The airspace in the U.S. is one big interconnected network, so issues at one airport can cascade through the system. Airlines have been proactively altering their schedules, partly by canceling some flights in and out of Newark, to address the current limitations at the airfield.
For travelers, that means that airlines, especially United Airlines, which has a big hub in Newark, will have a little less slack in their own networks.
If you’re traveling through Newark in the coming weeks and months, or if you’re traveling on an airline with a decent number of flights in and out of Newark, you’ll want to keep an eye on your notifications for any updates about changes to your itinerary.
If your flight is delayed as a result of Newark’s issues, you may not be entitled to compensation, because regulations don’t typically require airlines to address delays caused by factors out of their control. But if your flight is canceled and you choose not to travel on airline-provided alternatives, you’ll be entitled to a refund even if you purchased a nonrefundable ticket.
Are Newark’s disruptions affecting international flights?
Although United Airlines operates a major international hub at Newark, the cancellations have mostly been affecting short haul flight and regional routes operated by some of their partner airlines. A few international flights have been canceled, but those are outliers, according to FlightAware, the flight tracking website.
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and you can reach him at [email protected].
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