The Federal Aviation Administration has committed to speeding up repairs at New Jersey’s problematic Newark Liberty International Airport, coinciding with President Trump’s pledge on Thursday to revamp the nation’s entire air traffic control system. He attributed the persisting issues to the previous administration.
The FAA announced plans to enhance parts of the air-traffic control system that manage operations at the Garden State airport after technical glitches led to widespread cancellations.
The chaos erupted when the radar system used by air traffic controllers in Philadelphia to manage flights in and out of Newark experienced a shutdown lasting at least 30 seconds last week.
The facility relies on radar data sent over lines from New York that may have failed, including some old copper phone lines
The feds now plan to replace those old wires with fiber optics and add three new data lines between New York and Philadelphia as part of the fix.
The agency said it is also working to get additional controllers trained and certified.
It wasnât immediately clear how long the upgrades would take but Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said he hopes the situation in Newark will improve by summer.
The ongoing chaos at Newark, as well as a slew of recent midair crashes in US airspace, has prompted the feds to pledge a fix for the nationâs outdated air traffic control system.
“Air Traffic problems caused by the incompetent Biden Administration, as headed by, in this case, a total novice and political hack, Pete B. I WILL FIX IT!!!” Trump said in a Truth Social post Thursday, referring to former transport head Pete Buttigieg.
Trump’s post came just hours before his transportation secretary was set to unveil a multi-billion-dollar plan to overhaul the system.
âWe are on it. We are going to fix it. We are going to build a brand new system for all of you and your families and the American people,â Duffy said.
With Post wires
