Key points
- Major airline CEOs say air traffic control system “failing Americans”
- Call on Congress to approve billions of dollars in funding for the ageing system
- US air safety regulator faced questions after fatal January crash at Washington National Airport
- There will be delays this summer: Former FAA director
ISLAMABAD: As the Memorial Day holiday weekend gets underway, US voyagers are girding for a bumpy ride as heavy summer travel volumes test the nation’s overworked air traffic system.
Travellers at Newark Liberty International Airport said this week they were resigned to delays but not worried about safety.
“It’s more of a concern coming back,” Benjamin Schmutzer, 32, said Wednesday night at Newark before his departure to Portugal. “Hopefully the government has sorted it out.”
One of three major airports serving the busy New York City region, Newark has been under a cloud since an April 28 equipment outage resulted in air traffic controllers losing radar and communications with planes for 90 seconds.
The incident, which spurred scrutiny in Congress and a comic skit on Saturday Night Live, was a factor in some Newark-assigned Air Traffic Control (ATC) staff taking leave “to recover from the stress of multiple recent outages,” according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Safety regulator
While the bulk of the recent incidents have been at Newark, part of Denver’s air traffic system also lost communications for 90 seconds on May 12, according to AFP.
The US air safety regulator has also faced questions after a fatal January crash at Washington National Airport, the first major US commercial crash since 2009.
“There will be delays this summer,” predicted aviation consultant Jeff Guzzetti, the FAA’s former director of accident investigations.
Guzzetti praised Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s ATC modernisation drive as long overdue.
But he pointed to FAA “turmoil” from myriad departures of senior officials following the Trump administration’s push to downsize the government.
Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said summer travel will go more smoothly than feared if there are no major outages.
ATC system upgradation
While the ATC system needs to be upgraded, Daniels does not believe the acute problems at Newark are pervasive throughout the system nationally.
But the recent incidents are a “warning sign” about the need to invest in modernising the system.
He also backs Duffy’s commitment to hiring more air traffic controllers, saying inadequate staffing means six-day work weeks and long hours for ATC workers.
“It is literally the burden of the system on the back of the American worker,” said Daniels.
Slowing down operations
Newark’s problems stem from the FAA’s decision in 2024 to move some Newark ATC staff to Philadelphia, relocating them from Long Island, New York, where the FAA currently manages some ATC operations for several sites, including both of the other two major New York airports.
Newark operations have improved in recent weeks since the FAA replaced some telecommunications lines to the Philadelphia site, US transportation officials say.
The agency this week also announced it was lowering the caps on total Newark flights.
“Failing Americans”
According to Reuters, major airline CEOs on Wednesday called on Congress to approve billions of dollars in funding to modernise the United States’ ageing air traffic control system, saying it is “failing Americans.”
The Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control network’s woes have been years in the making. But a rush of high-profile mishaps, near-misses and a deadly January crash involving an American Airlines regional jet caused public alarm and prompted new calls for action.
“Wildly out of date”
In a joint letter, the airline executives cited recent failures involving Newark Airport and said the FAA’s technology “is wildly out of date.”
“Aviation remains the safest mode of transportation in the U.S., but for it to remain so, serious upgrades need to happen now,” said the letter, citing a 2023 independent review that raised safety concerns.
The executives called for urgent action as the busy summer travel season begins with the Memorial Day holiday this weekend.
