90-second Newark blackout exposes parlous state of US air traffic control

United Airlines canceling flights as chaos mounts

Air traffic controllers for Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey were horrified when all radar and radio equipment, including backup systems, failed last week, cutting communication with aircraft for 90 seconds.

Operators were reportedly in tears, with one experiencing heart palpitations, during the brief blackout on April 28. The outage was apparently down to a single unsheathed copper wire shorting out equipment at the ATC facility located to the southwest in Philadelphia. Flyers are now advised to avoid the busy transport hub if at all possible.

Around 20 percent of the staff have either resigned or taken sick leave due to stress. As a result, flights in and out of Newark have slowed to give those remaining a chance to ensure landing schedules are safe.

"Air traffic controllers in Area C of the Philadelphia TRACON (PHL), who are responsible for separating and sequencing aircraft in and out of Newark Airport (EWR), temporarily lost radar and communications with the aircraft under their control, unable to see, hear, or talk to them," a National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) spokesperson said in a statement on Monday.

Since the incident, more than a thousand flights have been canceled or delayed and there's no indication the airport will return to normal operations any time soon. United Airlines has canceled 35 routes that use the airport and CEO Scott Kirby expressed frustration in an open letter to customers.

"It's disappointing to make further cuts to an already reduced schedule at Newark, but since there is no way to resolve the near-term structural FAA staffing issues, we feel like there is no other choice in order to protect our customers," he said.

"These challenges are not new to Newark. United has been urging the US government for years to use its authority to effectively limit the number of flights to what the airport can realistically handle. Past failure to make those changes had led to the circumstances that United and, most importantly, our customers now face."

Upwards of 20 million people pass through Newark every year, and the fact the 12th busiest airport in America can lose all communication with aircraft is alarming, both for those in the air and on the ground. But decades of underfunding have left the air traffic control system in a terrible state.

And then there's the human factor. Air traffic controllers face one of the highest-stress jobs on the planet, where one slip could kill hundreds of people, and are subject to a mandatory retirement age of 56 – although this can be stretched to 60 in some cases.

Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced measures to address the shortfall. New recruits will get enhanced bonuses and qualified controllers who remain employed beyond the age of 56 will get an annual bonus of 20 percent of their salary.

"This new recruitment award and retention incentive program is a meaningful step toward addressing the ongoing staffing shortages in air traffic control across the National Airspace System," said NATCA president Nick Daniels.

"We thank [Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy] for his commitment to recruiting and retaining the best and brightest in the air traffic control profession and look forward to working with the Department of Transportation and the FAA on controller staffing, safety improvements, and the modernization of air traffic control systems and improvements to facility infrastructure." ®