Transport secretary, Sean Duffy, plans to reduce the number of flights in and outside Newark Liberty International Airport for the “next weeks”, as the biggest airport in New Jersey fight with radar breakdowns And Many flight delays and cancellations Due to a shortage of air controllers.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press”, Duffy said that he would summon a meeting with all the airlines that fly from Newark this week to determine the reduction, adding that it would fluctuate, with a greater reduction to come in the afternoon when international flight arrivals makes the airport more busy.
“We want to have a number of flights if you reserve your flight, you know it’s going to fly, right?” He said. “This is the priority. So you don’t arrive at the airport, wait four hours, then you are delayed. ”
The Federal Aviation Administration said that Radar in the establishment of Philadelphia which directs the planes in and out of Newark airport became black for 90 seconds at 3:55 am Friday, similar to a April 28 incident.
There have been an average of 34 cancellations of arrival per day since mid-April in Newark, according to the FAA, with the number of delays increasing throughout the day, against an average of five in the morning to 16 in the evening. They tend to last an average of 85 to 137 minutes.
The Trump administration proposed a Revision of several billion dollars From the American air traffic control system on Thursday, which includes six new air traffic control centers and technological and communications improvements in all the country’s air traffic facilities over the next three or four years.
Duffy said on Sunday that it also planned to increase the compulsory retirement age for air controllers aged 56 to 61, while he tries to sail in a shortage of around 3,000 people in this specialized position.
He plans to give these air traffic controllers an initial bonus of 20% to stay at work. However, he says that many air traffic controllers choose to retire after 25 years of service, which means that many retirees around the age of 50.
“These are not night solutions,” said Duffy. “But as we go up – one, two years old, older guys at work, younger guys coming, men and women – we can invent this difference from 3,000 people.”
The addition of more air traffic controllers contrasts with an absolute priority of the Trump administration – reducing jobs in almost all other federal agencies. However, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said on “Face The Nation” of CBS that Duffy deserved the merit of having put “warning ribbons” around the FAA security functions and separating this personnel from the cost reduction of the DOGE.
Kirby said United has already reduced his calendar to Newark and will meet Duffy later this week. It expects a deeper reduction to last until June 15, when the construction of one of the Newark tracks should be finished, although he thinks that certain reductions will last throughout the summer.
“We have fewer flights, but we keep everything safe, and we get the plane safely on the ground,” said Kirby. “Security is number one, and so I’m not worried about security. I worry about the delays and the impacts of customers. ”
