Construction project on one of Newark's main runways completed ahead of schedule
NEWARK, New Jersey (WABC) -- A construction project on one of Newark Liberty International Airport's three main runways wrapped up nearly two weeks early, so the Federal Aviation Administration should be able to ease flight limits soon, but the shortage of air traffic controllers could still cause problems.
The first flights departed Monday morning, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is at the airport for a news conference.
The runway, known as 4L-22R, had been completely shut down since April 15 for a $121 million routine rehabilitation and was initially scheduled to reopen June 15.
During the closure, the Port Authority had worked with United, the anchor airline at the airport, and other airlines to reduce flights during the construction. Only 28 flights were taking off and landing per hour at Newark. With this runway back open, the airport is expected to add six more per hour. Normally, 77 flights had been arriving and departing an hour there before all of the difficulties.
While Newark Airport has two other runways, the main backup could not be used in inclement weather and had been under-utilized by air traffic controllers during this period.
Officials announced that the newly constructed runway at Newark Airport is open for departures, but the arrival rates will remain capped at 28 per hour until teams can certify it next week.
"So we're running a 28 arrival rate right now. Once we certify that extra runway with the new arrival instrument landing systems, we'll be able to move up to 34 rate arrival per hour," said FAA Acting Administrator Chris Rocheleau.
In a statement to ABC, the FAA said the certification process is " standard protocol to ensure a runway is safe to use for pilots and the flying public."
The agency expects the runway to be certified the week of June 9th. Once certified, the airport's arrival rate will increase to a maximum of 34 aircraft an hour.
However, Monday's reopening is still offering some much needed relief as Newark Airport has faced a firestorm of challenges, including staffing shortages and system outages that led to delays and cancellations.
Twice in the last two months, the radar and communications systems that Philadelphia air traffic controllers who direct planes in and out of Newark rely on failed for a short time. That happened because the main line that carries the radar signal down from another FAA facility in New York failed, and the backup line didn't work immediately.
The controllers were unable to see or communicate with the planes around Newark Airport for as long as 90 seconds on April 28 and May 9.
The lines - some of which were old copper wires - failed a third time on May 11, but the backup system worked and the radar stayed online. The FAA said a fourth outage had knocked out radio communications for two seconds, but the radar stayed online.
After the initial outage, the already shorthanded control center in Philadelphia lost five to seven controllers to trauma leave. That left the airport unable to handle all the scheduled flights, leading to hundreds of cancellations and delays.
Officials have said the problems affecting the Newark airport are a prime example of why the entire air traffic control system nationwide needs to be overhauled.
Transportation Secretary Duffy announced a multibillion-dollar plan to upgrade the nation's aging air traffic control system last month.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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