Aviation experts say ongoing problems at New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport are a sign of an antiquated U.S. system and could become more widespread, but that Canadian airports aren’t facing the same systemic issues.
The air traffic controllers directing planes into the airport in Newark, N.J.,┬аlost their radar Friday morning for the second time in two weeks.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the radar at the facility in Philadelphia that directs planes in and out of Newark airport went black for 90 seconds at 3:55 a.m. ET Friday.
That’s similar to what happened on April 28, when a radar outage┬аled to hundreds of flights being cancelled or delayed at the Newark airport in the past two weeks after the FAA slowed down traffic at the airport to ensure safety.
Five controllers┬аwent on trauma leave after the April 28 outage, worsening the existing shortage.
Aviation consultant Scott Hamilton, managing director of Leeham Company,┬аsays the U.S. has an outdated air traffic control system that has never gotten proper funding for technology upgrades and staffing, and Newark’s problems could be a sign of things to come for other American airports.┬а
Concerns of a ‘system-wide collapse’
“The system is just antiquated. It’s understaffed,” he told CBC News.
Hamilton says the problem has gotten worse since the U.S. government┬аlaid off 400 FAA workers in February, including technical workers who helped maintain the system.┬а┬а┬а
“This may be a case where things are starting to converge,” he said. “For all I know, this could be the beginning of a general system-wide collapse that might migrate from Newark to other patrol centres and other airports.”
The number of cancellations of Newark departures jumped from the low 40s to 68 Friday after this latest outage to lead the nation, according to FlightAware.com.
Nearly 400 delays were reported at the airport. Officials said there have been more than 1,700 cancellations and delays at the airport this week.
U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer blamed the problems that have plagued Newark on the lack of proper air traffic controller staffing and modern technology.
Newark airport air traffic controllers briefly lost radar contact and communication with several planes under their watch last month, their union has confirmed. Chaos has gripped the airport for two weeks, causing ripple effects across the U.S.
He said at a news conference Friday that there are currently about 20 controllers working, and that number should be in the 60s. The New Jersey Democrat┬аadded that many of the lines connecting controllers to the radar are outdated copper wires, and said the April 28 outage was caused by one of those copper wires getting fried.
Gottheimer said the tower was built back in “the Brady Bunch era” in 1973.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing Friday morning that the “glitch this morning at Newark” was caused by the same issues as last week.
Canadian system not facing same problems: aviation expert
Aviation consultant and Trend Tec Canada president Dan Melanson says ongoing outages can be expected until the systems are updated.
While technology varies from one airport to the next across┬аthe U.S., he says large sections of the system are “crying out for attention,” and the country would benefit from a major update like Canada undertook in the 1990s.┬а
He says there is potential for outages at any airport, but┬аthe likelihood of having such problems in Canada are much more remote.┬а
“You’d be┬аbasically comparing apples to oranges,” he said.┬а
Nav Canada, a┬аprivately run non-profit, modernized┬аCanada’s air traffic control system┬аafter taking it over from Transport Canada┬аin 1996, and has maintained what Melanson calls a “really robust” system.
“It’s been continuously receiving reinvestments from Nav Canada. That’s part of their mandate,” he said.
“There’s no doubt that there’s areas in Canada that need to be looked at. But they are being dealt with on a systematic, ongoing basis, so there’s not a widespread issue that can cause a major problem like what you’re seeing in the States, in my opinion.”
U.S. officials say change is coming
American officials have pledged to take action.
The FAA said earlier this week that it is installing new fibre optic data lines to carry the radar signal between its facilities in Philadelphia and New York. Officials said some of the lines connecting those two facilities are outdated copper wire that will be replaced. But it’s not clear how quickly those repairs can be completed.
And on Thursday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a multibillion-dollar plan┬аto replace the country’s aging air traffic control system┬аand give controllers modern technology. That plan includes installing 4,600 new high-speed connections and replacing 618 radars across the country.
Officials developed the plan after a deadly midair collision in January between a passenger jet and an army helicopter killed 67 people in the skies over Washington, D.C. Several other crashes this year also put pressure on officials to act.
Melanson┬аhas been to the Newark airport, and says many Canadians fly through there.
He says if he had a current flight booked to Newark, he probably wouldn’t cancel it тАФ but the airport’s problems would be in the back of his mind.┬а
“It’s a very busy airspace,” he said.┬а“An┬аunreliable radar system and traffic control is worrisome.”
