Stranded in Newark? The FAA's Air-Traffic Control Mess

WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch

The Wall Street Journal

Society & Culture, News

4 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 6 May 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hundreds of flights through Newark, N.J., have been disrupted, after an incident in which air-traffic controllers reportedly lost radar and communications for a short time. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said planes weren't in danger, but why can't the U.S. fix this outdated system? Plus, 35 Democrats in the House vote to end California's mandate for electric vehicles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	From the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal, this is Potomac Watch.
0:08.9	Flight delays at Newark cascade through America's airports after air traffic controllers lose radar and communications briefly.
0:18.3	Plus the House of Representatives votes to revoke a federal waiver that California is
0:22.7	using to mandate electric vehicles, with 35 Democrats joining the eyes. Welcome, I'm Kyle Peterson
0:29.8	with the Wall Street Journal. We're joined today by my colleagues, columnist Alicia Finley, and
0:36.3	Kim Strassel. Cancellations and delays have rippled through
0:40.6	America's air travel system in the past week or so, starting in the hub of Newark, New Jersey.
0:47.4	On Friday, the CEO of United Airlines, Scott Kirby, writing an open letter to customers.
0:53.6	This is part of what he said in the past few days
0:55.6	on more than one occasion. Technology that FAA air traffic controllers rely on to manage the airplanes
1:02.4	coming in and out of Newark Airport failed. He went on to say that the Newark Air Traffic Hub is
1:09.4	understaffed and United Airlines was going to unilaterally
1:13.7	cancel 35 round-trip flights per day from its Newark schedule starting this past weekend.
1:21.3	Here's audio of one of those disruptions last week, those technology failures, radio traffic,
1:28.7	between an air traffic controller and a pilot in the sky.
1:30.6	No, you do not have a Bravo clearance.
1:32.5	We lost our radar and it's not working correctly.
1:35.3	Radar service terminates, Spock v.Far, Greenspan, approved.
1:37.5	If you want a Bravo clearance, you can just call the towers when you get closer.
1:41.3	Okay, I'll wait for that frequency from you, okay?
1:45.1	Okay, no.
1:45.7	This walk me as far.
	...

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