EWR radios and radar fail again

Pretty sure I was talking with @NovemberEcho last Saturday evening as we departed EWR headed for ZIMMZ as a nice line was closing every departure gate. I appreciate him, and his fellow controllers, from not just saying “F- It!!!”, but some of the stuff you hear from fellow pilots on the radio makes one cringe.
 
Team –

Newark remains in the news and many of you likely saw my customer message last Friday – some of the news coverage and social commentary is accurate and some misleading so I thought I should try to clear things up for all of you.

First and most importantly, all the flights in and out of EWR are absolutely safe. When there are FAA issues - technology outages, staffing shortages, etc. - the FAA requires all airlines to slow down aircraft and/or cancel flights to maintain the highest levels of safety.

We do our part to maintain safety as well. As you all know, our pilots have thousands of hours of flight experience and supplement that with regular simulator training – we also have procedures that our pilots follow to re-establish communication if controllers lose radio contact to navigate the airplane safely to its destination.

In short, neither the FAA nor United pilots will ever compromise on safety.

But when the FAA has technology outages or staffing shortages, it does lead to delays and cancellations for our customers and *that’s* the issue we’re determined to solve for the long-term.

EWR is a crown jewel of the region and an international gateway for the United States – close to 50 million people flew through EWR last year – but the truth is there are more flights scheduled there than the FAA can handle.

In ideal weather, with full staffing and with perfectly functioning technology, the FAA tells us that the airport can only handle 77 flights per hour. And yet, the FAA regularly approves schedules of 80+ flights per hour almost every day between 3:00pm and 8:00pm. This math doesn’t work. Especially when there is weather, staffing issues or technology breakdowns - the airspace, taxiways, and runways get backed up and gridlock occurs.

How can that continually happen at EWR?

Well, every other large capacity constrained airport in the world uses slots to make sure that the number of scheduled flights in any given hour does not exceed the airport’s maximum capacity. And EWR is the only large airport in the world that no longer has this basic common-sense rule (in 2016, the FAA de-slotted EWR).

We try to do our part to address these constraints: we regularly reduce our own schedules (we just cut another 35 flights to relieve pressure and give the FAA more flexibility to catch up), we’ve invested in infrastructure and technology to make our operation more efficient, and we have upgauged our flights by 20% to give our customers more seats per aircraft.

But we can’t do it alone. Other airlines simply backfill our flying when we reduce our schedule.

In reality, only the FAA can actually fix EWR. And here are the steps to make it happen:
  1. Limit the airport to 48 flights / hour while the runway is under construction (this is underway);
  2. Return EWR to a Level 3 slot controlled airport - this is the ONLY way to achieve 77 flights per hour;
  3. Modernize the ATC system;
  4. And get EWR ATC fully staffed.

It’s long past time to treat EWR like the crown jewel that it is. It was a mistake to de-slot the airport in 2016 - every single data point says so – and we’ll continue to work closely with the FAA and DOT to get EWR fixed once and for all and deliver the country the first-class air traffic system it deserves.

Scott
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“How dare the FAA allow us to abuse the system?!”

What a microcosm; a fiduciary duty to gobble-up capacity a la Tragedy of the Commons, but also a neatly-packaged example of ”industry left unbridled by regulatory oversight.”

Practically, I suspect this is a ploy to block someone else squeezing into and then oozing out of EWR when/if United makes a move towards JFK.
 
amorris311 said:
Pretty sure I was talking with @NovemberEcho last Saturday evening as we departed EWR headed for ZIMMZ as a nice line was closing every departure gate. I appreciate him, and his fellow controllers, from not just saying “F- It!!!”, but some of the stuff you hear from fellow pilots on the radio makes one cringe.
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Honestly thank god for the weather this last week. It’s probably the only thing that saved us at all. Multiple days this week we were down to 1 scope alternating 2 controllers by 4pm. If the weather had been nice and the VFR’s were out it wouldn’t have been doable. And I was def here Saturday evening so it indeed may have been me!
 
drunkenbeagle said:
Getting a clearance on the ground part 91 has been more the exception than the rule in Florida for the last 3 or 4 months.
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Radar outages, ATC 0, ain’t no way I’m just going to launch VFR with 200 people while I try to take off and hope there’s actually a controller on the other end at some point.
 
I look at VFR and multiple flight plans as a tool available to me. The “YOU’RE DODGING YOUR EDCT” crowd in ATC seems to forget that airlines literally have employees in the command center negotiating to get their most profitable flights out at the expense of others. And they’re the ones who saturated the airspace in the first place. It’s not unsafe at all to operate VFR when conditions permit or pickup a clearance airborne.
 
NovemberEcho said:
VFR 121 is one thing, VFR 121 on a 1200 code stuck below the bravo with no radio and radar coverage seems a bit….extreme?
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This is like 50% of the flights I would do with the worlds most famous and rich people in the back. With a lot more terrain around me then NJ. 121/135 has the same set of rules, but 135/91 management pats you on the back for completing the “mission” and 121 no once cares or notices. All risk and zero reward in 121 now. Super exciting!

Nowadays I’m happy to just let the clock run now that it’s someone else’s problem but thats how I use to get a pay raise. Wild times.
 
Kingairer said:
Radar outages, ATC 0, ain’t no way I’m just going to launch VFR with 200 people while I try to take off and hope there’s actually a controller on the other end at some point.
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That's what 7600 is for if 121.5 isn't full of meowing.

Obviously kidding.
 
pwttogfk said:
I look at VFR and multiple flight plans as a tool available to me. The “YOU’RE DODGING YOUR EDCT” crowd in ATC seems to forget that airlines literally have employees in the command center negotiating to get their most profitable flights out at the expense of others. And they’re the ones who saturated the airspace in the first place. It’s not unsafe at all to operate VFR when conditions permit or pickup a clearance airborne.
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Maybe it was "gO hoMe DaY!"

:)
 
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