By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday called for a probe into ongoing flight disruptions at Newark airport that began eight days ago due to outdated equipment and a shortage of air traffic controllers.
"The FAA is really a mess," Schumer said. "We have a 1990 technology being used in 2025."
Travelers (NYSE: TRV ) at the New Jersey airport near Manhattan have faced flight delays of up to five hours and cancellations. That has rippled throughout the country as Newark Liberty International Airport is the 12th busiest U.S. airport based on passenger boarding data.
Schumer asked the Transportation Department’s Office of Inspector General to investigate "what happened at Newark so these problems don’t get worse, or spread to airports across the nation."
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association said that air traffic controllers responsible for coordinating planes in Newark temporarily lost radar contact and communications with the aircraft under their control on April 28.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby (NYSE: KEX ) on Friday said 20% of the FAA controllers for Newark had walked off the job.
But on Monday, the controllers’ union said they did not walk off the job but took absences under the Federal Employees Compensation Act, which provides for absences for injuries or on-the-job trauma.
The FAA said Monday some controllers in Philadelphia who work Newark arrivals and departures "have taken time off to recover from the stress of multiple recent outages."
Newark airport has also been undergoing runway construction this spring that has cut capacity, and the FAA has faced a persistent nationwide shortage of controllers.
United said on Monday it was cancelling 35 more flights a day - or about 10% - at its Newark hub. United has been forced to divert dozens of flights to other airports while flight delays of five or more hours have occurred.
United said it has historically flown 440 flights daily out of Newark but after cutting flights earlier this spring and the latest cuts, it is now down to 293.
The FAA last year relocated control of the Newark airspace to Philadelphia to address staffing and congestion.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who intends to propose a plan this week to fix outdated air traffic control infrastructure, visited the FAA Terminal Radar Approach Control at Philadelphia on Friday.
"The technology that we are using is old. That’s what is causing the outages and delays we are seeing at Newark," Duffy said.
The FAA is about 3,500 controllers short of targeted staffing. A persistent shortage of controllers has delayed flights and, at many facilities, controllers are working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks.