Fliers are dealing with residual delays for flights at Newark Liberty International Airport after a Monday air traffic equipment malfunction and controller staff storage snarled flights.
Problems with telecommunication and radar equipment at the Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control in Pennsylvania, which guides aircraft in and out of Newark airport, heavily delayed flights Monday afternoon, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Airlines canceled 77 flights in and out of the airport and delayed 168 others for up to three hours. The delays cascaded to other airports as well, including the smaller New Jersey airport in Teterboro.
By Tuesday morning, the glut of delays had mostly eased but travelers should still expect delays of at least 15 minutes for departures and arrivals at Newark, said the FAA. The agency said it had resolved most of the issues Monday afternoon, but that a shortage of air traffic controllers at the facility continues to impact flights. The debacle is the latest in a series of air traffic technical problems and staff shortages that have caused major headaches for fliers.
Early last year the FAA relocated control of the Newark airspace to Philadelphia from New York to help address staffing issues and air traffic congestion in the New York City area. The FAA is short roughly 3,500 air traffic controllers of its target staffing levels. A years-long shortage has persistently spurred flight delays at airports throughout the country, with existing controllers working mandatory over six-day week.
