Air traffic controllers have been under pressure for years, but last week's 90-second equipment failure revealed decades of staff shortages, underinvestment and patchwork solutions that cost those who guide aircraft through some of the world's most crowded airspace.
The power outage also triggered hundreds of flight delays, ruining thousands of travelers’ days of travel.
On the afternoon of April 28, an air traffic controller at a Philadelphia facility was in charge of directing the plane to and from the plane to the Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey faced a dark radar screen and could not talk to the plane for more than a minute.
The interruption lasted about 30 seconds. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane reappeared after another 30 to 60 seconds.
Pilots at major U.S. airlines said they were specially trained to deal with the disruption.
But even a few seconds of power outages are “a eternity for air traffic controllers,” said Jeff Guzzetti, a retired air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The FAA said the incident was not the first time a device blackout attacked the facility, so some people “take time to recover from the multiple recent blackouts.”
More than 1,500 Newark flights were delayed last week, according to Flightaware. United Airlines departs from Newark, which the airline says it cuts 35 flights a day from its plan to relieve stress on its operations and customers.
The Newark runway has also been closed for construction, adding disruptions.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it will strengthen staffing at its Philadelphia plant and work to fix communication lines to feed data to controllers there for Newark flights. It said it plans to install a temporary backup system here to "provide redundancy during switching to a more reliable fiber network."
Transport Secretary Sean Duffy will announce a major upgrade to the U.S. air traffic control system on Thursday, which could require Congress to approve billions of dollars in additional funding.
"We have computers, I'm not based on Windows 95 and floppy disks in 2025," Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said in a March interview.
The FAA said last year that its towers had an average age of 40 and most radar systems were close to 40 years old. “Aging facilities increase the risk of system, including the risk of service disruptions,” it said.
The April 28 incident and previous disruptions caused no accidents, but the failures have made people more concerned about outdated systems and long-term shortages of air traffic controllers, especially in the busy airspace of New York City.
The FAA said U.S. air traffic controllers have to do about 45,000 flights a day.
On January 29, a Blackhawk Army helicopter collided with a US Airlines regional jet, killing all 67 people on the plane. This is the deadliest air collapse in the United States since 2001.
"The fatal airline accident caught everyone's attention," Guzzetti said.
Newark has begun dealing with space constraints.
According to its operators, the New York and New Jersey Port Authority, it processed about 414,000 flights last year, 11% less than John Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York. But Newark is about half as good as Kennedy.
Newark has been particularly severe in recent days. Last year, the FAA moved controllers to Newark from a facility in Long Island, New York, where the plane was also sequenced to and from Laguardia Airport and JFK in Queens to a remote area of Philadelphia. The move aims to relieve congestion and pressure on Long Island facilities, but problems remain.
The shortage of air traffic personnel has annoyed airline executives who are eager to take advantage of strong demand but face high costs due to lack of controllers.
"Remember, this particular air traffic control facility has been popular for years and without these controllers, it's obvious now - the FAA told us - Newark Airport can't handle the number of aircraft planned to operate here in the coming weeks and months," co-CEO Scott Kirby told clients Friday, announcing the cuts.
Four flights per day were cancelled in Newark in April before April 26, but the average daily flights rose to 39 per day, according to airline analytics company Cirium. Cirium said about 80% of flights were on schedule in April before that date, but fell to 63%, "far below industry norms."
Duffy said air travel is safe. After visiting the Philadelphia plant last week, he said the FAA would slow down if it wasn't a stop, if it wasn't a stop, and would arrive completely.
Manchester United CEO Kirby told employees in a memo Wednesday that it was safe to travel to and from Newark. He said the carrier's pilot had thousands of hours of experience and program training to "navigate to safely navigate to the destination if the controller loses radio contact".
Airlines have sought capacity limits to help with traffic jams, and the final disturbance is no exception.
"United States has been urging the U.S. government to use its powers to effectively limit the number of flights actually handled by the airport," Kirby said in a note to employees on Friday. "The failure to make these changes in the past has led to solidarity and most importantly what our customers are facing now."
In 2016, the FAA relaxed flight restrictions at airports, and Kirby said the FAA should return to previous rules.
"It's been a long time, just like treating the EWR," he told staff on Wednesday, using the airport's password. "We will continue to work closely with the FAA and the Ministry of Transport to determine the EWR once and for all and deliver the country to the best-in-class air transportation system it deserves."
According to the Natca executive union, the U.S. has about 10,800 air traffic controllers, far more than 3,000.
“In the past eight years, we have 146,000 applicants and we have hired 7,905.” Chris Wilbanks, vice president of mission support, conducted an interview in March. “Less than 10% of those applying for jobs are actually at Oklahoma Training Academy (Oklahoma Training Academy) and then graduates go into the field.”
In the last fiscal year, the FAA aimed to hire 1,800 controllers.
"We will lose 35% of the academy. Once they get on site, we will lose 20% in the job training. So we won't purify 1,800 controllers."
Hard work requires air traffic controllers to retire at the age of 56, while applicants at the college may not be over 30 years old. Many people are forced to work for six days due to the shortage.
Duffy recently took action to increase financial incentives, such as higher salaries for air traffic controllers. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the union’s Daniels said the starter salary is about $45,000, although the median U.S. air traffic controllers are $144,580 a year.