Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy plans to reduce the number of flights in and out of the Newark for the "next several weeks," as New Jersey's largest airport struggles with radar outages and numerous flight delays and cancellations due to a shortage of air traffic controllers. Speaking Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, Duffy said he will convene a meeting with all the airlines flying out of Newark Liberty International Airport this week to determine the reduction, the AP reports, adding that it will fluctuate, with a larger reduction coming in the afternoons when international flight arrivals make the airport busier.
"We want to have a number of flights that if you book your flight, you know it's going to fly, right?" he said. "That is the priority. So you don't get to the airport, wait four hours, and then get delayed." The Federal Aviation Administration said radar at the facility in Philadelphia that directs planes in and out of Newark airport went black for 90 seconds at 3:55am Friday, similar to an April 28 incident. There have been an average of 34 arrival cancellations per day since mid-April at Newark, according to the FAA, with the number of delays increasing from an average of five in the mornings to 16 by the evening. They've lasted 85 to 137 minutes on average.
The Trump administration proposed a multibillion-dollar overhaul of the nation's air traffic control system on Thursday to include six new air traffic control centers and technology and communications upgrades at all air traffic facilities over the next three or four years. Duffy said he also plans to raise the mandatory retirement age for air traffic controllers from 56 to 61, as he tries to navigate a shortage of about 3,000 people in that specialized position. He plans to offer a 20% upfront bonus to stay on the job. "These are not overnight fixes," Duffy said, per the AP. "But as we go up—one, two years, older guys on the job, younger guys coming in, men and women—we can make up that 3,000-person difference."
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