Trump Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is sounding the alarm over the growing chaos at Newark Airport, placing the blame squarely on the Biden administration’s mismanagement and weak leadership. According to Duffy, years of neglect, bureaucratic bloat, and misplaced priorities have turned one of America’s busiest travel hubs into a nightmare for passengers, warning that fixing the mess could take years unless there's a significant shift in federal transportation policy and leadership.
On Monday, Duffy blamed the Biden administration for the ongoing problems at Newark Liberty International Airport, criticizing former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for failing to ensure a smooth transition of the airport’s airspace to the troubled Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control (Tracon) in July 2024. He said the mishandled transfer contributed to the chaos over the weekend when critical air traffic control systems went down.
“Biden and Buttigieg ignored the warning signs at Newark,” Duffy wrote on X. “They neglected the air traffic control system. They failed to fix the problems. It’s shameful. President Trump and I do not run away from challenges. We are fixing it.”
Duffy noted that despite the Biden administration receiving $1.2 trillion for infrastructure, none of it was directed toward fixing what he called the nation’s most critical infrastructure issue: the air traffic control system. He warned that other airports could soon experience similar problems if action isn’t taken.
On Sunday, a critical equipment failure at Newark Airport caused dozens of flight cancellations and delays, throwing travel plans into disarray for thousands of passengers. It marked the third major radar outage at the airport in just two weeks. In response, Transportation Secretary Duffy said his team implemented a software update to enable a backup data feed that will help prevent total radar and communication blackouts. He also confirmed ongoing efforts with Verizon and L3Harris to accelerate the installation of additional fiber optic data lines between New York and the Philadelphia Tracon center.
Duffy also announced plans to reduce the number of flights at the airport to avoid delays and allow for infrastructure upgrades.
“Families shouldn’t have to wait four or five hours for a flight that never takes off,” he added. “By lowering the number of flights, we can ensure the ones that are kept do actually take off and they do actually land.”
While Duffy said that the Trump administration would move fast to implement the upgrades, he acknowledged that it could take several years.
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