Gottheimer sends letter demanding Trump administration immediately take action, add air traffic controllers to address delays at Newark Airport
NEWARK, NJ — U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) Wednesday sent a letter to President Donald Trump and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy demanding they immediately deploy more air traffic controllers (ATCs) to address the staffing shortage causing massive delays and cancellations at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Gottheimer also urged the Administration to immediately request emergency funding to upgrade the outdated infrastructure and technology at Newark.
This follows Gottheimer’s announcement Tuesday, calling on the Trump Administration to take action and request emergency funding, for the FAA to work with the Port Authority (PANYNJ), to conduct a review of the Newark air traffic control towers, for the House Appropriations Committee to meet any request for emergency resources, and for airlines to get ahead of cancellations and flight changes.
The Newark sector, which includes Newark, Teterboro, Essex County, Morristown, and several smaller airports, is currently short around 40 air traffic controllers. In the past week, customers have experienced more than 900 flight cancellations since outdated technology caused a radar and communications outage last week. The technology responsible for the Newark sector is approximately 35 years old.
“The Administration must take immediate action by moving air traffic control supervisors to temporarily cover the Newark sector to help combat the staffing shortages and to help stop flight delays and cancellations. This will help provide some immediate relief to customers who have experienced more than 900 flight cancellations since the outage last week. I also urge the Administration to request emergency funding to upgrade the outdated infrastructure for air traffic control towers, which caused the communications failure last week. Newark Airport, for example, operates technology that is approximately 35 years old. It is unacceptable that the FAA has failed to invest in these critical technological upgrades for so many years,” wrote Congressman Josh Gottheimer in a letter Wednesday to President Trump and Transportation Secretary Duffy.
