FAA Investigates Fourth Newark Airport Radio Outage Amid Flight Delays

Newark Liberty International Airport has experienced a series of air traffic control equipment failures and staffing shortages, leading to multiple outages and significant flight delays in recent weeks. On Monday, the Philadelphia TRACON facility, responsible for guiding flights in and out of Newark, suffered a brief two-second radio frequency outage, marking the fourth such incident in recent weeks. Despite the outage, all aircraft remained safely separated, and the FAA is actively investigating the issue. The airport has faced previous longer outages, including a 90-second loss of radio and radar communications on April 28 and May 9, which caused loss of contact between controllers and pilots. In response to the ongoing problems, the FAA has formed a task force to address the aging technology, and major airlines have met with FAA officials to discuss capping flights to mitigate disruptions. United Airlines and other carriers are offering travel waivers to affected passengers, while Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has emphasized the need for infrastructural updates to the outdated air traffic control systems.