The air traffic in Newark was just a tip of the iceberg

On June 2, US Transport Secretary Sean Doves traveled to Newark Liberty International Airport to celebrate the reopening of the runway 4L-22R. This was unusual: a few of the runway holes are bright enough to justify a visit from Airport CEONot to mention the Secretary of the Council of Ministers. but We also informed us last monthBeware airports symbolize the mismanagement of the air traffic control system such as Newark.

the The ceremony and the press conference Nark was supposed to turn into a different symbol – symbol, progress and work. In his speech, Duffy has put Newcous problems as a solution, and people on stage-who included the director of the Federal Aviation Department (FAA) Chris Roshilo, CEO of United Airlines Scott Kirby, and many other characters-a problem with problem.

Together, they got a union work to rebuild a 47 -day runway instead of 60 days; They persuaded Verizon to expedite the new optical fiber cable; They have identified and stabilized “system defects” that left the NARAM air control units and are unable to speak to the pilots for several terrifying minutes.

Because of this intelligence, Roshilo expected that Newark would soon be able to increase his journey by 25 percent, or nearly 12 additional flights per hour.

Or, Kirby said, “This is a basic turning point not only in the short term but in the long run from Newark.”

Within two days, the three men are proven wrong. On the evening of June 4, air traffic monitors forced Newark to issue a StopDelay 100 flights for several hours. Another delay related to employment It happened four days later. Optimism alone cannot solve the infrastructure problems that were contracts to make.

Especially when they are more prevalent than most people realize. In addition to three days of the crisis in Newark – on April 28, May 1, and May 9 – there were at least ten cases in which equipment or employment problems greatly affected air traffic controls throughout the country this year.

The most dangerous accidents occurred in Air traffic control facilities in Kansas City In January, Auckland In February and Denver in May. Every time, the controllers were unable to see or communicate with the pilots after the radar and radio failure. Denver’s interruption continued for only 90 seconds, but others continued for more than an hour. Each one has delayed widespread and canceled.

In March in BaltimoreThurgood Marshall (BWI), an electric fire that is blamed for “excessive aging equipment”, stopped its operations for more than two hours, which resulted in the abolition of 50 flying and more than 150 delay.

and twice this yearFAA Note to the air missions system (Notam) The actual time database has decreased for both the flying danger and the traffic that covers the entire American air folder-several hours at one time, which led to more than 1,300 delay and cancellation.

Not just technology that causes problems. FAA is more short than 3000 air traffic control units worldwide. This deficiency forced many air traffic control facilities to issue “”Player employees“Reducing the number of flights in their airspace to accommodate the levels of the reduced console. Employment operators It happened Air traffic control facilities responsible for Austin twiceAnd regional airports around it New York three TimesAnd once in ChicagoLos Angeles, and Miami this year.

Even this may not provide the full image of the depth and breadth of the crisis of the air traffic control system. This list only includes incidents reported by local news, or that can be recovered in FAA’s Air traffic control system (ATCSCC) Consulting database – a system that cleanses most consulting after two weeks.

To put this in its right quorum, there were 162 days in 2025 until now. At at least 16 days – nearly one in 10 – a large part of the air traffic system failed somewhere in America.

accident Government Accountability Office A report from September 2024 found that 90 percent of the country’s critical air control infrastructure was due or in the past due to the “technology update”. Nearly half of the 138 system was included in the “non -sustainable” survey systems due to a lack of financing, insufficient maintenance experience, or even a lack of spare parts. (For example, a 2023 FAA review I found that the systems that follow the aircraft in the air and on the ground use more than 700 beacons more than 20 years old, and their manufacturers no longer make spare parts.)

The Federal Aviation Administration has been aware of this problem for decades. In 2003The agency began in a scope “Next Generation” Air traffic control system. The NextGen system will replace the current infrastructure that “developed in the 1940s and 1950s … and is no longer able to deal with air traffic increases”, and will be delivered by 2025.

But the year of delivery has arrived, and NextGen is still present Basically on paper. The agency has not yet achieved its minimum goal of launching each major Nextgen system at one major airport by 2025, not to mention the “full implementation” that was originally promised by the end of the year. Some important systems may not arrive online until 2030, including Replace the air communication system to the ground This failed in Newark, Denver and other places.

Air traffic monitors are still required to maintain the same safety levels despite the use of equipment that is still old contracts. But they are not supported either. The vast majority One of the air traffic control centers is less than the target employment levels. More than half of them do not meet the “FAA standard” less than 85 percent of the targeted recruitment levels. For compensation, control units are often required to work Six days a week, 10 hours a day. Air Movement Observer is called this “this”The worst time to be an American ATC since 1981– The year in which air traffic monitors struck to better wages, and President Ronald Reagan responded By launching more than 11,000 of them.

On the eighth of May, Minister Duffy revealed the niqab.New air traffic control system plan“Frame” of eight pages “to re -invest in the national airspace system. Although ambition exists, the details do not require this from continuous financing, political support and appropriate management.

So, while Minister Duffy is right to acknowledge the work that has been done to reform problems in Newark and around the country, there is still a long way – and there is no single silver bullet that can fix its value for several decades of neglect.