May 8, 2025 • 2 mins
NBC News Radio National Correspondent Rory O'Neill joins us to discuss the latest as the Federal Aviation Administration investigates issues at Newar'ks Liberty Airport.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
So the last several weeks have been a challenge for
the FAA. This is West Michigan's Morning News. Steve Kelly, Repikata,
Lawrence Smith, and Rory O'Neil, NBC News Radio National correspondent.
Thanks for doing this today.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Sure, good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
So they do a little update at Newark's Liberty International
Airport and holy smokes, what's going on?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Well, unlike we're paying attention to other holy smoke today,
But in the case of Newark Liberty, the real concern
has been this communication failure between Newark Liberty International Airport
and the air traffic controllers stationed at the Philadelphia terminal
radar approach control. Apparently a couple times now, once back
on April twenty eighth, and again back in last fall,
(00:44):
we've seen communication blackouts and the air traffic controllers simply
don't know where the planes are on approach or as
they depart. So clearly a big, big safety concern, and
that's led to the cancelation of hundreds of flights these
past two weeks.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Rory, I'm a little confused, why exactly are operations happening
in Newark being carried out in Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Well, it's essentially just to coordinate and you can bring
more people together in one spot. I think they are
squeeze for space there at Newark, so they try to
do this joint a joint operation because you've also got
this shortage of air traffic controllers nationwide. I think we're
down about three thousand air traffic controllers. It's a high
pressure job that nobody wants, and it takes five or
(01:30):
six years to train a person for that job. COVID
really through the employment process off the rails for a
long time. They couldn't train together. So that meant that
the class of incoming controllers was a bit off and
we're still playing catchup.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, and to that point, talk to us about the
bigger picture. How will all of that trickle down to
airports like the Ford here in Grand Rapids as we
head in sort of busy season just a few weeks school.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Right, And now, look, some of this may be specifically
related to Newark. It's relationship to Philadelphia, and believe it
or not, an old copper telecommunications connection that they're upgrading
to fiber. Check your calendars, folks, it's twenty twenty five. Yeah,
but that they're still talking about that Transportation Secretary Duffy
is expected to go into more detail about upgrading the system. Look,
(02:23):
NASA has been working on a new generation of air
traffic control for a long time now, but this is
going to take money, and at a time when we've
got dose running rampant, they're trying to do spending cuts everywhere,
and you know, having someone come forward to say, okay,
we're going to need a few billion dollars for air
(02:43):
traffic control, that's not really popular stuff right now. You know,
unless the Senator or member of Congress can point to
a bridge with their name on it. Air traffic control
computers aren't that sexy.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
It is Rory O'Neil NBCIWS Radio National Correspondence, Thank you,
Thanks guys,
So the last several weeks have been a challenge for
the FAA. This is West Michigan's Morning News. Steve Kelly, Repikata,
Lawrence Smith, and Rory O'Neil, NBC News Radio National correspondent.
Thanks for doing this today.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Sure, good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
So they do a little update at Newark's Liberty International
Airport and holy smokes, what's going on?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Well, unlike we're paying attention to other holy smoke today,
But in the case of Newark Liberty, the real concern
has been this communication failure between Newark Liberty International Airport
and the air traffic controllers stationed at the Philadelphia terminal
radar approach control. Apparently a couple times now, once back
on April twenty eighth, and again back in last fall,
(00:44):
we've seen communication blackouts and the air traffic controllers simply
don't know where the planes are on approach or as
they depart. So clearly a big, big safety concern, and
that's led to the cancelation of hundreds of flights these
past two weeks.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Rory, I'm a little confused, why exactly are operations happening
in Newark being carried out in Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Well, it's essentially just to coordinate and you can bring
more people together in one spot. I think they are
squeeze for space there at Newark, so they try to
do this joint a joint operation because you've also got
this shortage of air traffic controllers nationwide. I think we're
down about three thousand air traffic controllers. It's a high
pressure job that nobody wants, and it takes five or
(01:30):
six years to train a person for that job. COVID
really through the employment process off the rails for a
long time. They couldn't train together. So that meant that
the class of incoming controllers was a bit off and
we're still playing catchup.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, and to that point, talk to us about the
bigger picture. How will all of that trickle down to
airports like the Ford here in Grand Rapids as we
head in sort of busy season just a few weeks school.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Right, And now, look, some of this may be specifically
related to Newark. It's relationship to Philadelphia, and believe it
or not, an old copper telecommunications connection that they're upgrading
to fiber. Check your calendars, folks, it's twenty twenty five. Yeah,
but that they're still talking about that Transportation Secretary Duffy
is expected to go into more detail about upgrading the system. Look,
(02:23):
NASA has been working on a new generation of air
traffic control for a long time now, but this is
going to take money, and at a time when we've
got dose running rampant, they're trying to do spending cuts everywhere,
and you know, having someone come forward to say, okay,
we're going to need a few billion dollars for air
(02:43):
traffic control, that's not really popular stuff right now. You know,
unless the Senator or member of Congress can point to
a bridge with their name on it. Air traffic control
computers aren't that sexy.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
It is Rory O'Neil NBCIWS Radio National Correspondence, Thank you,
Thanks guys,
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