Schumer calls on Transportation Secretary Duffy to 'immediately fix' Newark Airport situation

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is demanding U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy "immediately hole the concern astatine Newark Airport," pursuing a agelong of question mishaps and chaos. 

"When radical perceive astir radar screens conscionable going dark, postulation controllers who cannot speech to planes, exertion that is seemingly moving nary amended than tin cans, they bash not deliberation this is simply a communicative astir the Trump administration’s FAA, but that is what is truthful scary: this communicative is existent and this communicative is dangerous. This concern is besides unacceptable," Schumer said successful a connection connected Sunday.

"I person communicated this past week with the FAA, and I consciousness nary amended contiguous than a week agone astir the authorities of aviation information since this medication took the controls astatine FAA. As I said past week, Newark is simply a harbinger. If this unsafe concern tin hap successful the metro region, ideate what mightiness hap successful places wherever determination is little scrutiny. This truly makes you worry."

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called connected Secretary Duffy to instantly hole the concern astatine Newark Airport. (Getty Images)

On Thursday, much than 500 flights successful and retired of Newark were delayed and astatine slightest 200 others were canceled, and chaos followed passim the weekend.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed the concern connected mediocre exertion successful an X post.

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Airplanes beryllium parked astatine gates astatine Terminal A astatine Newark Liberty International Airport connected Dec. 4, 2024, successful Newark, N.J. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

"The exertion that we are utilizing is old. That’s what is causing the outages and delays we are seeing astatine Newark," Duffy wrote.

Schumer stated determination person been an mean of 34 accomplishment cancellations per time since mid-April astatine Newark, according to the FAA, with the fig of delays expanding passim the time from an mean of 5 successful the mornings to 16 by the evening. They thin to past 85 to 137 minutes connected average, reports say.

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Travelers are seen astatine the Newark Liberty International Airport up of Thanksgiving connected Nov. 26, 2024. (Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)

On Sunday, Schumer said Duffy "must enactment Newark archetypal successful enactment for fixes helium said would beryllium made to the nation’s ATC systems." 

He besides gave circumstantial details astir the enactment that needs to beryllium done, including installing a DIRECT fiber-optic telco enactment betwixt Newark Airport and Philadelphia terminal radar attack power center, nary much indirect runaround. Schumer called for a "modernized, nonstop transportation and caller computers to analyse and show transmitted data."

In a lengthy connection obtained by Fox News and Fox Business, the FAA acknowledged that "several large airlines are facing ongoing formation disruptions astatine New Jersey's Newark-Liberty International Airport arsenic the installation contends with ongoing staffing and exertion issues."

"Last week, aerial postulation controllers astatine the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) facility successful Philadelphia mislaid radar and vigor signals portion directing planes to Newark for astir 90 seconds, causing important delays and formation cancellations that stay ongoing," the connection continued.

"We are moving to guarantee the existent telecommunications instrumentality is much reliable successful the New York country by establishing a much resilient and redundant configuration with the section speech carriers. In addition, we are updating our automation strategy to amended resiliency."

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When reached by Fox News Digital, a typical for Duffy pointed to an interrogation the caput gave earlier successful the time to FOX Business' "The Evening Edit."

"I emotion Democrats who are present each acrophobic astir aerial postulation control," Duffy said. 

"They spent $1.2 trillion successful the Biden-Buttigieg era; $1 .2 trillion connected American infrastructure, and they didn't walk thing connected aerial postulation [control] and they knew it was getting aged and needed a monolithic rebuild. They didn't bash it. Now they're complaining during the Trump administration, we're the ones that are."

Fox News Digital's Andrea Margolis and Charles Creitz contributed to this report. 

Stepheny Price is simply a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, nationalist transgression cases, amerciable immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas tin beryllium sent to [email protected]