By Josh Funk
The recent chronic delays and cancellations of the largest airport in New Jersey have highlighted the shortage of air traffic controllers and the aging equipment they use, that the administration of President Donald Trump wishes to replace.
The Federal Aviation Administration works on a short -term correction to the problems of Newark airport which includes technical repairs and the reduction of flights to maintain manageable traffic while facing a shortage of controllers. The officials meet all the airlines that fly from Newark from Wednesday to discuss the plan.
But even before these problems, aviation was already under the spotlight since the deadly open-air collision of a jet of passengers and an American army helicopter above Washington, DC, in January, and a series of other accidents and misadventures since then. The surveys on these accidents continue while the US Department of Transport is trying to progress on long -standing problems not to have enough air controllers and to rely on obsolete equipment. An audience of the US Senate Wednesday morning will focus on FAA’s efforts.
What happened in Newark?
Twice in the past two and a half weeks, the radar and the communication systems on which the air controllers of Philadelphia which lead planes in and outside Newark depend on failure for a short period. This happened because the lines that transport the radar signal from another FAA installation in New York failed, and the backup system did not work immediately.
The controllers could not see or speak to planes around Newark Liberty International Airport for 90 seconds on April 28 and May 9. The lines – some of which were old copper sons – failed a third time on Sunday, but this time, the backup system worked and the radar remained online.
But the first of these stressful situations prompted five to seven controllers to take a 45 -day trauma leave, which aggravated the shortage of existing staff at the Philadelphia control establishment, which prompted the FAA to limit the number of flights to Newark every day.
The FAA currently has 22 fully certified air traffic controllers and five supervisors assigned to Newark in the installation of Philadelphia, but the agency wishes to have 38 controllers there. 21 other controllers are in training there, and 10 of them are certified in at least part of the region.
What was done in Newark?
The FAA quickly limited the number of flights to Newark to between 24 and 28 arrivals and the same number of departures each hour to ensure that the remaining controllers could manage them safely. At times when controller staff is particularly thin, like Monday, FAA still limits traffic. Before the problems, 38 or 39 flights would take off and land every hour in Newark.
The meetings that FAA officials have with all the airlines from Wednesday focus on a plan that continues to limit takeoff and landings at no more than 28 each per hour until mid-June in mid-June. Until then, a track construction project should be completed and the controllers who have taken a trauma leave should return. After that, the FAA said that it could be able to rise the limit to 34 arrivals and 34 departures per hour.
Meanwhile, the number of flights per day should be cut because the airport cannot manage everyone on the calendar. This is why Newark has generally led the nation in cancellations and delays in recent weeks. Once the FAA that met the airlines, it will give them a few weeks to submit information in writing, so that it will not make a decision before May 28.
The FAA was able to install new fiber optics lines at Newark airport and the other two major airports in the New York – Kennedy International and Laguardia region – but these are still tested and will not be online before the end of the month. Officials were able to update computer software last week that prevented the radar from disconnecting a third time on Sunday when the main line still failed.
In the longer term, the FAA also plans to build a new radar system in Philadelphia, so that the controllers will no longer have to rely on the New York killed signal. But that may not be done for months, although managers work with entrepreneurs to speed up this project.
Why not hire more controllers?
The FAA has been working for a long time to hire more air traffic controllers to replace retired workers and manage increasing air traffic. But it can be difficult to find good candidates for stressful posts, and it takes years to train controllers to do the work.
Transport secretary, Sean Duffy, has made several movements to try to hire more controllers. The FAA is trying to shorten the necessary time between the moment when someone applies to the air traffic controller academy in Oklahoma City and when it begins, and the agency also tries to improve the gradual rate by offering more support to students. The candidates with the highest scores of the entrance examination are also priority.
The FAA also offers bonuses to experienced controllers if they choose not to retire early and continue to work to help facilitate the shortage.
Other high -tech simulators are also used at country airports, including Newark, to train air controllers. The FAA said on Tuesday that the controllers tended to finish training faster when they use one of the 111 simulators it has.
“These new simulators offer air traffic trainees a high -tech space to learn, develop and practice their skills,” said the acting administrator of FAA, Chris Rocheleau.
What about obsolete equipment?
The transport service plans to ask the Congress of billions and billions of dollars to pay for a overhaul of the air traffic control system nationally to replace the 618 radars, install 4,600 new high -speed connections and upgrade all computers that the controllers use. The exact price has not been determined.
Duffy blamed the administration of former president Joe Biden for having omitted to upgrade the air traffic control system, but the Congress recognized for the first time that the system had trouble following the growing number of flights from the 1990s, so the problems go back to decades – well before the administrations of Biden or First Trump. The former Biden transport secretary, Pete Buttigieg, defended his efforts to upgrade part of the technology and extend the hiring of the air traffic controller.
Part of the IT equipment for several decades on which the controllers are based were exhibited at last week’s press conference on the level, which made a large support of more than 50 groups across industry. Duffy used an assortment of colorful metaphors to underline the age of the equipment, saying that the equipment seems to be out of the entire film “Apollo 13” and comparing it to a Beetle Volkswagen 1967.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
