What to know about Newark's airport problems, and the connection to Long Island

Recent flight delays and cancellations at Newark Liberty International Airport — caused by radar and communications outages, an ensuing staffing shortage and ongoing runway construction — have led some travelers to wonder: are other airports vulnerable?

Newsday spoke to experts who said that the direct cause of Newark’s blackout was unique, but the region's other airports, Long Island MacArthur, LaGuardia and Kennedy, face some of the same underlying issues — like dated equipment and a long-term shortage of air traffic controllers.

They also explained how a radar facility in Nassau County played a cameo role in the recent outages.

What caused the radar and communications outage at Newark?

The air traffic control center for Newark that experienced problems is in Philadelphia, where air traffic controllers communicate with pilots over radios and track aircraft movements using radar on screens.

Federal Aviation Administration officials have attributed the outages, which lasted over a minute on April 28 and May 9, to a faulty telecommunications line that connects the facility to radar and radio equipment in New Jersey by way of Long Island.

The line in question is known as a T-1 line, which are made of copper and became popular with the rise of the internet decades ago, according to Michael McCormick, a former head of an FAA radar facility in Ronkonkoma and current professor of air traffic management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida.

Could it happen at LaGuardia, Kennedy or MacArthur?

McCormick said Long Island airports also use T-1 lines, but not the same specific, faulty line that caused problems for Newark — so travelers need not worry about a similar outage.

"Kennedy, LaGuardia, Farmingdale, Islip are not impacted by what's occurring at Newark," he said, adding he is optimistic that recent fixes by the FAA also seem to have solved the immediate problem at Newark.

How does the Long Island radar facility fit into the story?

For years, Newark’s flights were directed from a radar facility in Westbury, which also handles other area airports. But last summer — over objections from the local union — the FAA shifted the staff responsible for Newark from Westbury to Philadelphia.

Rather than create a new, direct connection between Philadelphia and New Jersey, the FAA at that time installed a T-1 line from Westbury to Philadelphia, so data was flowing from New Jersey to Nassau, then back to Pennsylvania. It was the Westbury-Philadelphia line that caused problems in recent weeks, according to the FAA.

What role did staffing shortages play?

Following the outages, several air traffic controllers in Philadelphia went on trauma leave due to the stress of the event, according to their union. This secondary effect — along with ongoing construction on one of Newark’s runways — led the FAA to reduce flights in and out of Newark, it said in statements.

Newark’s staffing issues are connected to a long-term controller shortage nationwide — driven by required retirement at age 56, attrition during the pandemic and other factors, according Domenic Proscia, vice president for training at Vaughn College’s Aviation Training Institute in Queens.

"This is all contributing to where we are right now," he said.

What's the FAA doing to fix the system?

The Federal Aviation Administration announced a plan last week to revamp communications, radio and other equipment nationwide by 2028.

It said it plans to install thousands of new internet connections and radios, replace hundreds of radar systems and create new air traffic control centers for handling flights nationwide within roughly three years — though it did not specify where new centers would be located or the plan's total cost.

McCormick said he welcomed the initiative, although elements of the plan — such as replacing T-1 lines nationwide with modern fiber-optic cables — have been underway for years.

Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the air traffic controllers union recently announced an agreement to attract more recruits and retain existing staff by offering bonuses for new controllers, allowing experienced controllers to apply to work beyond age 56 and other measures.

Proscia said recruiting more controllers is a welcome step, and that Vaughn College also is helping by offering training through a partnership that allows local students to avoid relocating to the FAA's academy in Oklahoma City.

"The FAA has a huge challenge, and they have to make that [staffing] pool bigger. And you know, if Duffy is trying to make that pool bigger, I'm all for it," he said.