Another equipment outage impacts flights at Newark Liberty International Airport
The New York City skyline is seen behind Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J., Wednesday, May 7. (Photo credit: Seth Wenig/AP via CNN Newsource)
Washington (CNN) — Operations have returned to normal after another air traffic control equipment outage caused the Federal Aviation Administration to implement a ground stop for Newark Liberty International Airport-bound flights Sunday morning.
“There was a telecommunications issue at Philadelphia TRACON Area C, which guides aircraft in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport airspace,” the FAA said in a statement. “The FAA briefly slowed aircraft in and out of the airport while we ensured redundancies were working as designed.”
The ground stop, which means flights heading to Newark could not take off, lasted about 45 minutes, according to FAA air traffic advisories.
Separately, on Sunday, the FAA issued a ground stop for some flights bound for Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport due to a runway equipment issue, separate from the issue impacting Newark.
More than 40% of flights were delayed at the Atlanta airport Sunday, according to the website FlightAware.
This comes after a 90-second-long radar and radio outage early Friday morning at the same Philadelphia-based TRACON facility handling flights departing from or arriving at Newark.
A similar incident there, during a busy afternoon on April 28, caused five air traffic controllers in the facility to take trauma leave, which resulted in more than a thousand flights canceled.
A general view of gates and tarmac at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey on May 7. Regulators have been slowing arrivals and departures at one of the United States' busiest airports following a 90-second traffic control system outage last week that has industry experts sounding alarm bells. (Photo credit: Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)
No flights diverted from the airport during Sunday’s outage, according to FlightAware. About 280 flights were delayed and 87 canceled at Newark as of late Sunday, the flight tracking site notes.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Sunday “it is” safe to fly out of Newark airport, adding that flights will be scaled back at the airport in the interim while the issue is fixed.
While noting the system is “old” and outdated, Duffy said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” he believes the “glitch” will be fixed soon.
He didn’t say exactly how long delays and cancellations will last, but said, “In the next several weeks, we’re going to have this reduced capacity at Newark. I’m convening a meeting of all the airlines that serve Newark, get them to agree on how they’re going to reduce the capacity. So you book, you fly.”
“We are building a new line that goes directly from Newark to the Philly TRACON, which controls the New York airspace,” Duffy said, adding he believes that will be complete by the end of the summer.
Duffy also said he would offer 20% up-front bonuses to air traffic controllers.
CNN’s Kit Maher contributed to this report.
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