Newark Liberty International Airport Hit by Fourth Air Traffic Control Outage in Weeks

For the fourth time in a matter of weeks, communication between air traffic controllers and aircraft flying in Newark Liberty International Airport’s (EWR) airspace briefly dropped.

According to the FAA, radio contact between the air traffic control (ATC) center in Philadelphia and aircraft near Newark was lost for about two seconds at approximately 11:35 a.m. local time on Monday. Despite the outage, aircraft remained “safely separated” at the airport, according to a FAA statement to CBS News.

Compared to earlier incidents in April and May, this outage was less severe and had fewer consequences. Cancellations at Newark remained below 1% on Monday, according to FlightAware. Delays were higher than normal—with more than 10% of departures and arrivals impacted—but that was largely due to a ground stop issued by the FAA after 2 p.m. citing “staffing.” The FAA expects another ground stop to be issued on Tuesday, sometime after 11 a.m. EST.

The most significant outage occurred on April 28, when the ATC center lost contact and tracking capability for about 90 seconds, forcing a temporary halt to air traffic.

There are two ongoing issues at Newark that don’t seem to be going away anytime soon.

The first is outdated technology, which has played a role in several of the recent communication failures. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby — whose airline operates more than 70% of flights at Newark and has borne the brunt of the disruptions — recently called out the need for major tech upgrades at the airport.

The second issue is staffing shortages at the Philadelphia air traffic control center, which manages airspace around Newark, a chronic issue that has delayed flights at several major airports over the past few years.

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently announced a sweeping modernization plan to address both concerns, which Sec. of Transportation Sean Duffy says is already underway. That plan, which is likely to cost into the tens of billions of dollars, is part of the budget bill that is working it’s way through Congress this week.

“The time to build an all-new, state of the art air traffic control system is right now, and the President’s One Big Beautiful Bill includes funding to partially pay for this urgent priority,” Duffy wrote on social media about the bill.

“Flying remains the safest mode of transportation, but years of neglect have left us with an antiquated system that is disrupting travel and inhibiting innovation. This initial investment is a great starting point, and I’d encourage the House to get this done.”