FAA reports new outage at Philadelphia facility affecting Newark Liberty airport

Published 09/05/2025, 16:44
© Reuters.

Investing.com -- The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported a new outage at a Philadelphia facility that oversees air traffic at Newark Liberty airport on Friday. This is the latest in a series of equipment problems that have disrupted traffic and caused public concern.

The telecommunications outage affected communications and radar displays at Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control, which guides aircraft in and out of Newark Liberty. The outage occurred around 3:55 a.m. ET on Friday and lasted approximately 90 seconds.

The FAA announced on Wednesday that it was taking immediate steps to address ongoing issues that have disrupted hundreds of flights at Newark since April 28. United Airlines, the airport’s largest carrier, has been particularly affected.

In response to these disruptions, the FAA is increasing air traffic controller staffing. They are also adding three new, high-bandwidth telecommunications connections and deploying a temporary backup system to the Philadelphia TRACON. This is in preparation for the switch to a more reliable fiber-optic network.

The FAA did not provide an immediate explanation as to why the backup did not prevent Friday’s incident.

Newark has experienced a series of challenges recently, including runway construction, FAA equipment outages, and air traffic control staffing shortages. These issues have led to urgent calls from lawmakers for investigations and additional funding.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy reported on Thursday that controllers overseeing planes at the busy airport just outside New York lost contact with aircraft for 30 to 90 seconds on April 28. This incident has raised serious concern.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

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