Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the US Federal Aviation Administration will release a plan today to reduce flights at Newark airport after systems outages and a staffing crunch pushed the agency to slow traffic over the last several weeks.

The FAA is investigating a fourth system outage in less than a month at the Philadelphia area air traffic control center that handles flights in and out of Newark airport. The outage happened Monday and lasted for two seconds,

Controllers handling aircraft headed into Newark Liberty International Airport lost radio frequencies for approximately 2 seconds, said the FAA

Airlines will meet with the Federal Aviation Administration Wednesday to address weeks of delays at Newark Liberty International Airport following air traffic control staffing and equipment issues.

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

Both excuses point to neglect. Neglect in maintaining safe and sustainable staffing levels, neglect in updating vital computer systems, neglect in providing industry standard equipment that won’t break down when somebody fires up the microwave in the break room.

At a House Appropriations Committee meeting yesterday regarding the Department of Transportation’s fiscal budget for 2026, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) referenced Duffy’s comments. She suggested that Duffy “diverted [his] wife from Newark airport to LaGuardia out of a sense of security.”

A staffing shortage, runway construction and deferred maintenance to crucial air traffic technology have made Newark Airport a national laughingstock.