Over the past two weeks at the Philadelphia-based Air Traffic Control Center, which leads flights to and from Newar Liberty International Airport, several equipment outages have raised concerns about how safe it is in one of the country's busiest airports.
The suspension of two people in the past week is as anxiety around the flight has skyrocketed amid a deadly collision and some close call-ups.
The Federal Aviation Administration said on Sunday morning it had implemented a ground stop for flights heading to Newark due to “communication issues” affecting controllers in the Philadelphia Traycon Area C. In this case, the transportation department says the backup system has begun.
Another 90-second long radar and radio outage occurred at Tracon early Friday morning. Both incidents stopped at the same control center last month on a busy afternoon on April 28th, resulting in five air traffic controllers taking trauma leave, causing more than 1,000 cancelled flights at the airport.
And the flights that arrived and departed in Newark late Monday night were being handled by just three air traffic controllers.
Should passengers be worried following a stop affecting Newark?
“I can classify a trip to Newark today as safe,” FAA administrator Chris Rocheroux told a news conference Monday.
Air traffic controllers have told CNN that the recent outages put airline workers and passengers at risk, describing the “most dangerous situation you can have” with just a loss of communication.
“I've never seen anything like this,” said the Newark Approach Controller, who has been involved in air traffic control for over 20 years and has requested that he remain anonymous as a current employee. “We're playing Russian roulette.”
The outage is the latest year of a turbulent year for flight after a fatal air collision over the Potomac River near the Washington National Airport, a Medeback Jet crash in Philadelphia, killing 10 people off the coast of Norme, Alaska.
These events follow the fatal crash fall of Jeju Air and Azerbaijan Airlines in December 2024, followed by a crash fall about a year after the surprising blow-off of Boeing door panels in the US and a fiery runway crash in Japan.
In 2023, a series of close conflicts at US airports encouraged the creation of an independent safety review team.
Dennis Tajer, captain and spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, a union representing American Airlines pilots, said professional pilots “don't train everything well.”
If the pilot loses radio contact, the airliner has at least two radios, and air traffic control still has several frequencies. If pilots need emergency frequencies, they also have a “guard frequency.”
“The bottom line means that by regulations, we have this procedure through training,” he said. “We are experts in use and have additional equipment such as additional radios, at least additional frequency to contact and talk to other aircraft.”
Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS) are also available on-board, and could identify other planes that could be dangerously close and pull them apart, Tajer added.
US-based aviation safety expert Anthony Brickhouse told CNN in March that it remains “the safest means of transportation,” even considering serious accidents.
If the tower cannot be broadcast, but can see the aircraft, there are also lights that can be flashed to warn the pilot when it will land and when it will be held back, he said.
“Statistically speaking, you're safer on a flight than you would have driven to an airport,” said Brickhouse, who has decades of experience in aerospace engineering, aviation safety and accident investigations.
A report analyzed by CNN for the National Transportation Safety Board shows a decline in the number of accident investigations in the first quarter of 2025. The NTSB led 171 civil aviation surveys from January to March 2025.
There were 185 surveys in the same time frame last year. The first three months of 2010-2019 were surveyed on an average of 215.
“I think this year is even worse because of everything that's revealed except (Reagan National Airport),” said CNN transport analyst Mary Siabo.
“Without the NTSB, we would have known about 15,000 near misses,” she told CNN in April, referring to 15,214 “near miss events.”
“It's shocking – we probably wouldn't have known about it,” she added.
A slower and safer approach
Inconsistent funding, outdated technology and shortages of facilities are bothering the American aviation system.
Newark has been affected by all three factors, and chaos has been exacerbated by the closure of the busiest runway at the airport for “rehabilitation work.”
The FAA confirmed that “at least three” air traffic controllers were working at the Newark Approach Management facility on Monday night. During the busiest times of the day, the number of controllers can be 14.
A FAA spokesperson emphasized to CNN that 14 was the biggest staffing and that there weren't many controllers working during shifts for years due to a nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers.
Despite these obstacles, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby says CNN Flying is still safe across Newark and across the country as airlines are shrinking the amount of flights departing every day.
“What happens when there's a lack of staffing or technology outages – we train for them. But what we really do is slow the airline,” Kirby added. “We have fewer departures at all airports, so we maintain a margin of safety in every place we fly.”
Kirby sent a similar message on Monday in an email to MileagePlus members who “live nearby” or “will travel in the future” of the Newark airline hub.
“The truth is that every flight inside and outside of (Newark) is absolutely safe,” Kirby said. “If there are issues such as technology outages or understaffing (Federal Aviation Administration) issues, the FAA requires that all airlines fly fewer aircraft to maintain the highest level of safety.”
The email includes links to a video highlighting the number of safety protocols already in place to protect passengers, including backup radar services and “advanced safety technologies” that help pilots see other aircraft around them.
However, according to CNN analyst and former FAA safety inspector David Soucie, summer booking flights should avoid flights through Newark.
“We'll avoid that if possible without delay at that airport until we see the reliable and repetitive nature of the flight,” Sussy added.
According to Peter Goelz, CNN aviation analyst and former managing director of NTSB, the summer trip is expected to be “terrifying.” “Especially around the massive public holidays on July 4th and Labor Day,” he said.
A decline in total flight counts could mean disastrous weeks for travelers, if not months, but Transport Secretary Shawn Duffy said the approach is one way for airlines to stay safe during the summer rush.
“I hate delays because our mission is safe. I hate cancellations. I hate families who come with the little kids sitting there for four hours,” Duffy said on NBC's “Meet the Press.” “But I want you to get to the place you travel. If that means slowing your flight to Newark, we'll make sure you can slow them down and make sure you can safely.”
Duffy announced plans for a “delay reduction meeting” last week, with airlines joined forces to reduce delays. The meeting is set for Wednesday in accordance with the FAA statement.
Those talks need to “start with the FAA,” Soucie said on CNN Sunday. “We can't rely on air carriers to say, 'Here's there something you think you can handle.' ”
“That's the FAA's job,” Sussy added.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Transport announced a three-year plan to build a “brand-new air traffic control system” that includes communications, surveillance, automation and critical upgrades to facilities. By 2028, more than 4,600 sites will acquire new high-speed network connections that will replace communication lines stained with textile, wireless and satellite links, the department says.
“What we saw in Newark will see variations through the airspace in the coming years unless we take on this mission,” Duffy told CNN.
The FAA also plans to add three new “high-bandwidth communications connections” from New York to Philadelphia, replacing copper wire with fiber optic technology, and deploying backup systems to provide more speed and reliability.
Duffy said the ongoing air traffic control obstacles began with the Biden administration and former Transport Secretary Pete Battigigue.
“I think it's clear that responsibility belongs to the last administration,” Duffy said at a press conference at Dot headquarters on Monday. “Pete Battigeg and Joe Biden did nothing to fix the system they knew were broken.”
Buttigieg Adviser's Chris Meagher said Duffy “will need to spend more time doing what Americans are paying for him — they need to resolve the issues and reduce the blame on others.”
“We're asking inspectors to begin an investigation into the last administration's failure and to investigate the movement of controllers to handle flights in and out of Newark from the New York facility to Philadelphia Tracon Area C,” Duffy said.
Targer calls the Newark chaos “a volcano erupting right now,” but there are other volcanoes in the air travel system.
“We need to make sure that by investing in modernizing these technologies, we put them inactive,” he said. “When it comes to safety, we've got your back. We won't fly without that confidence.”
On Sunday, the pilot made the approach controller radio, but there was about the same time that a flight heading to Newark was stopped by a terrestrial stop, according to radio frequency recorded on the website Liveatc.net.
“Newark, you know, we are all rooting for you.
