A Newark air traffic controller on the moment systems went dark
10:51 Share

Usually when you're interviewing an aviation safety expert, it's because something bad has happened, like a crash, a glitch, or a close call. And when you ask them, should Americans feel safe flying, you almost always hear some version of this. So I still believe that the commercial aviation safety expert

in this country is safe. I think you should not have any fears of this. That's aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti speaking with NPR earlier this month. And if you still need convincing, here's David Grizzle. He was chief operating officer and head of air traffic control for the FAA during the Obama administration. You heard him on this podcast two weeks ago. I would not hesitate to fly anytime, anywhere with my grandchildren.

The system is safe. And they're right. Flying is safe, close to 200 times safer than driving per mile traveled. But Grizzle's endorsement of air travel safety included a follow-up. At the same time, the margin of safety is narrower than what it was 10 years ago.

We heard a similar sentiment from William McGee, a senior fellow for aviation and travel at the American Economic Liberties Project. I usually say, look, you know, statistically, this is still by far the safest form of transportation and we need to put things in perspective.

But I will tell you that I myself am a little worried right now. There are many reasons for their concerns. A long brewing shortage of air traffic controllers, technology dating back as far as the 1980s, and decades of underfunding. That's the backdrop for what happened in the skies above Newark Liberty International Airport over the past month. A series of incidents in which air traffic controllers lost communications or radar systems. One

One of them shared their story with NPR. Consider this. An air traffic controller who worked through one of the outages says the problems at Newark are self-inflicted. How did the situation get this bad? And what could fix it? From NPR, I'm Elsa Chang.

This message comes from Sattva. Spring cleaning can be good for your home and your mind. It can boost your mood, sharpen your focus, and fuel productivity. Another way to do all that? Sleeping well. Voted Best Luxury Mattress by SleepFoundation.org, every Sattva is handcrafted for a great night's sleep. And they cost far less than retail. Save $200 on $1,000 or more at Sattva.com slash NPR.

This message comes from Mint Mobile. Mint Mobile took what's wrong with wireless and made it right. They offer premium wireless plans for less, and all plans include high-speed data, unlimited talk and text, and nationwide coverage. See for yourself at mintmobile.com slash switch.

This message comes from Mint Mobile. If you're tired of spending hundreds on big wireless bills, bogus fees, and free perks, Mint Mobile might be right for you with plans starting from $15 a month. Shop plans today at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of $45 for 3-month 5GB plan required. New customer offer for first 3 months only. Then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details.

It's Consider This from NPR. Federal regulators are now limiting the number of flights in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport.

This comes after a harrowing month for the air traffic controllers who work the airspace around it. We lost our radar and it's not working correctly. On April 28th, communications and radar systems went dark at the air traffic control facility in Philadelphia, where controllers managed the airspace around Newark. We don't have a radar, so I don't know where you are. We covered the aftermath of that incident here on this podcast, but

Since then, there have been more outages, as you can hear in these archived audio recordings from the website liveatc.net. Hundreds of flights in and out of Newark have been canceled or delayed since the first outage. Now,

Now, the Federal Aviation Administration is slowing the pace of arrivals and departures. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy insists that that will help. I believe the system is safe. There are multiple redundancies throughout the system that keep people safe, even the frustrations in Newark.

When we've slowed traffic down, the key is not efficiency. The key is safety. Still, these incidents have raised big questions. How did the mess in Newark get as bad as it did? And what will it take to fix an aging air traffic control system?

So we're going to hear a perspective from inside that system, from an air traffic controller who was working the airspace around Newark during one of those outages. NPR's Joel Rose covers transportation and joins us now. So, Joel, who was this air traffic controller who you spoke with and what can you tell us about them? What I can say, first of all, is that they work in the Philadelphia TRACON. That's short for the Terminal Radar Approach Control. And they're

These are facilities that handle traffic in highly congested airspace, in this case, around Newark. This controller asked us not to use their name because they are not authorized to speak publicly by their bosses at the FAA, and they're afraid of retaliation for speaking out. They also asked us not to use their voice for the same reason. So what you're going to hear in this story are their words, but they will be read by one of our producers. Got it. Okay. And as we just said, this person was on duty.

duty during one of these outages? What was that like? They said it was incredibly frustrating to have the tools that they rely on to do the job simply fail, losing contact with fully loaded jets traveling hundreds of miles an hour in some of the nation's busiest airspace. Again, this is the voice of an NPR producer reading the words of the air traffic controller. It was like disbelief. And then it was just like fury, honestly. Like, how could they have us working this, you know?

frustration, anger, like just being furious at the FAA because we had other outages prior to that point that demonstrated to us that our equipment was unreliable. This controller says the FAA is paying a lot of attention to their concerns now, but that was not always the case before. The controller says they had asked the FAA to slow the number of planes using this airspace, but were told no. Wait, go back a little bit. How did things in Newark airspace get so bad?

I know this is the big question that a lot of people have. In a sense, Newark is suffering from the same problems as the entire air traffic control system in the U.S. There's underinvestment in technology and systems that are in many cases decades old. And there is a shortage of staffing for air traffic controllers. The system nationwide is thousands of controllers short. All of that is true. But according to this controller, the things that happened in Newark are also very specific to Newark.

And in particular, the way the FAA moved the air traffic controllers who work the Newark airspace from Long Island, New York, to Philadelphia last year. So this particular situation was a self-inflicted FAA decision to move us out of New York. We did not have these issues when we were in New York. And so you're trying to make it seem like, well, the FAA is in shambles and that's why Newark is this problem. No, no.

Newark is the problem because you moved us out of New York without a real plan. Let me back up here for a moment. For years, the FAA had been talking about moving control of the Newark airspace out of Long Island, which handles the other two big airports in the New York area, LaGuardia and JFK.

For a long time, the FAA had trouble hiring enough controllers to staff the facility on Long Island. The training success rate there was also low, and those who did work there made a lot of money in overtime. So the FAA decided the long-term solution here was to move the controllers who handle Newark to Philadelphia, where the cost of living is lower and it would be easier to recruit. Here is Michael Whitaker, the FAA administrator during the Biden administration, explaining the rationale for this back in November. Michael Whitaker

With this move, we're able to relieve the stress in New York and improve controller staffing levels by recruiting and training controllers in Philadelphia.

This has been meant to get us healthy on a staffing level. As part of this move, some of the controllers from Long Island were forced to relocate. They all get a bonus of $100,000, but many still do not like this because they have families, kids in schools. The controller we spoke to was not happy about the move. I get it in a sense, like, why? They were like, well, let's move it somewhere else. But I feel like the way they went about it was really haphazard. It was really...

Reckless, honestly. And it was a little bit cruel to us as people, as the controllers who they moved. There had been 33 certified air traffic controllers working the Newark airspace from Long Island. Two dozen of them made the move last summer to Philadelphia. And according to the controller we spoke to, some of them had big concerns even then about how the move would work from a technical standpoint. Still, the controller says they tried to keep an open mind, but even they were surprised at how badly it has gone.

It's been worse of a disaster than even like the most cynical people in the union predicted. It's been a debacle. The FAA did not respond directly to these allegations, but the agency says it is working on an expedited plan to install new fiber optic lines to replace the copper wires that are still in use in some places and adding new backup systems to help with the technical issues in Newark.

And Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary, says the agency is, quote, supercharging the hiring of new air traffic controllers. But the reality is that it takes years to train them. And there is a nationwide staffing shortage right now that is especially acute in Philadelphia, where some of these controllers have taken trauma leave to recover from the psychological impact of the recent outages, including the controller we spoke to.

We are at our limit. Our families are telling us you need a break. Like, our friends are telling us you don't seem okay. We're all at that point. Like, you can tell people are breaking down. You can see the misery when people show up to work. There have been grown men crying in the parking lot on their breaks because of our work conditions. God, it just seems unsustainable. I guess the bottom line is, is Newark Airport safe?

A lot of people say yes. The FAA just announced that they are temporarily cutting the number of flights in New York to 56 per hour. That's a number that reflects what the air traffic control system can actually handle. But I put this question to the controller who works the airspace, and here's what they told me.

I had my best friend ask me the other day, like, I got a Newark flight. Is it going to be fine? I was like, no, don't fly out of Newark. Like, at the very least, you're going to be delayed. But no, like, I've had to book flights and Newark is the cheapest option, the most convenient option, nine times out of 10. And I'm not going to do it. Even the transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, admitted that he had his wife change her flight from Newark to LaGuardia Airport in New York City.

Not because it was unsafe, he said, but just because she needed to get where she was going. And I think a lot of people will be wrestling with those kinds of choices. That is NPR transportation correspondent Joel Rose. Thank you so much, Joel. You're welcome. This episode was produced by Jeffrey Pierre and Connor Donovan. It was edited by Russell Lewis, Courtney Dorney, and Justine Kennan. Our executive producer is Sammy Yannigan. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Elsa Chang.

Support for NPR and the following message come from Rosetta Stone, the perfect app to achieve your language learning goals no matter how busy your schedule gets. It's designed to maximize study time with immersive 10-minute lessons and audio practice for your commute. Plus, tailor your learning plan for specific objectives like travel. Get Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership for 50% off and unlimited access to 25 language courses. Learn more at rosettastone.com slash NPR.

This message comes from Crown, publisher of The Demon of Unrest, a saga of hubris, heartbreak, and heroism at the dawn of the Civil War by Eric Larson, the author of The Splendid and the Vile. In The Demon of Unrest, Eric Larson brings to life the pivotal five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War, a simmering crisis that finally tore a deeply divided nation in two. The Demon of Unrest is available wherever books and audiobooks are sold.

Want to hear this podcast without sponsor breaks? Amazon Prime members can listen to Consider This sponsor-free through Amazon Music.