(Bloomberg) – US aviation safety regulators have proposed temporarily limiting flights at Newark Airport to no more than 28 arrivals per hour to reduce a pair of radar and radio outages to reduce delays following significant interference in recent weeks.
The proposal reflects an earlier proposal from the Federal Aviation Administration that will operate with a limit of 56 flights per hour when counting the same number of departures, while construction of one of the runways at Newark Liberty International Airport is underway.
The agency will allow 34 arrivals per hour outside of the construction period, the FAA said in a statement Friday. That would translate into 68 flights. The FAA said daily construction on the runway will end on June 15 and will continue until the end of the year on Saturday.
Newark Airport usually takes more than 70 flights per hour during peak hours. The proposal comes after three days of discussions between FAA officials and operators including United Airlines Holdings Inc. to address air traffic controllers’ stress handling of flights at busy hubs.
The final decision will not be made until at least the end of the public comment period on May 28.
Concerns about aging technology and long-term discomfort at U.S. air traffic control facilities attracted attention when the radar screen turned black on April 28, while the radio was silent inside a guidance plane in the center of Philadelphia and on Newark’s guidance plane. The left and left controller briefly cannot see or communicate with aircraft in some of the country’s most crowded airspace.
Another air traffic facility that manages flights to Denver International Airport briefly lost several radio frequencies on Monday.
No incidents resulted in accidents or injuries.
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