Greg Raiff, CEO of Elevate Aviation Group, explained the obsolete system of the FAA and why Newark Liberty International Airport knows breakdowns in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.
EXCLUSIVE: A third equipment failure had an impact on flights to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) The airport is continuing to struggle with the ground stops supplied by staff and obsolete communication systems on Sunday.
Greg Raiff, founder and CEO of Elevate Aviation Group, told Fox News Digital that the underinvestite infrastructure and large endowment shortages disturb the flights to EWR, and the immediate solution is to reduce the number of flights while increasing recruitment.
“This is a problem that will not resolve overnight,” said Raiff. “The reason why we now see it in Newark is due to the dangerous cocktail of underinvested infrastructure, in terms of communication lines and systems which are in place in this new center of Philadelphia, where these new controllers have moved.”
“Coupled with the fact that instead of simply being a little staff like many FAA ATC centers, Newark has lost a lot of controllers literally overnight when the FAA made the decision to force all these employees to move to another city,” he added.
“Telecommunications problem” at Newark Airport leads to more delays, confirms the FAA
Greg Raiff, founder and CEO of Elevate Aviation Group. (Reuters / Fox News Digital)
Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) transferred the management of airspace, including 12 air traffic controllers, From New York to Philadelphia.
“As in any workforce, when you tell people they have to move and go to a place at two o’clock, you will lose a lot of employees. And then there is also this sudden work element in a new environment, and all the signals go back to New York and are sent to Philadelphia.”
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Raiff said that communication errors between the old New York establishment and the new installation in Philadelphia could have contributed to the initial failures. In addition, although the obsolete FAA system has led to communication failures at EWR, Raiff said that human error plays a major role.
“Human error comes from the fact that the FAA has decided to move these employees, these air controllers who have been based in New York for years and years, and picked them up and have moved to Philadelphia,” said Raiff.
A United Airlines plane on the Tarmac at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark on Monday January 8, 2024. (Yuki Iwamura / Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Raiff, whose private aviation company operates with 10 full -time employees for a single flight, said that the increase in recruitment is the most sustainable means of preventing communication errors.
“There is nothing like provoking additional professionals. And unfortunately, there is a shortage in these air traffic controls and centers at the moment. Despite the best efforts by Secretary Duffy, I fear that it will not take at least 12 or 24 months. You must recruit individuals.
Raiff said that the next immediate step is to reduce the number of flights authorized to operate in and outside the EWR and continue to try to “bring back controllers, add controllers, remove retirement, increase training and compensation programs for these long -term air traffic controllers.
The FAA air traffic control tower is seen at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey on May 7, 2025. (Images Kena Betancur / AFP / Getty)
“In the end, I fear that what will happen, the short -term Newark airport that will institute a traffic flow control system where they simply accept the fact that they cannot safely operate flights, the flights included in the past and the airmen have produced a little New York airport. It is much easier to say.
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Sean Duffy transport secretary announced Thursday a new plan To revise the FAA, build “a brand new advanced air traffic control system”, which includes the replacement of obsolete telecommunications systems and radars, attacking bread safety, building six new air traffic control centers, installing new modern air traffic installations and adding new weather stations.
The troubles persisted in EWR on Monday, the airport establishing a field delay program due to “FAA endowment problems”.
Fox News Digital Comments for Fox News from the FAA and EWR were not immediately returned.
