Transportation secretary wants to limit number of flights leaving Newark Liberty

Secretary Sean Duffy says limiting flights at the airport can help with the air traffic control issues at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Matt Trapani and Amanda Lee

May 12, 2025, 9:23 PM

Updated 7 hr ago

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United States Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy spoke Monday to address the air traffic control problems at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Duffy said that he wants to lower the number of flights leaving the airport to ensure that the ones that are kept actually take off and land.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop at the airport early Sunday morning that lasted about 45 minutes. This was the third time in recent weeks that Newark has dealt with air traffic controller connectivity issues.
Duffy continued to blame the Biden administration for the ongoing issues and said he wants to build everything new when it comes to the Air Traffic Control System.
“What you see in Newark, we're going to have to fix…We're going to move fast, but we're going to do it right. My concern is that we could see other situations like this around the country because the system is old,” Duffy said. "This is a plan to build everything new. It's going to be complicated, but we don't want more 'Newarks' to happen throughout the country."
The Department of Transportation is expected to have a meeting with the airlines on Wednesday to discuss delay reduction.