Flight cancellations in Newark and Philadelphia sharply declined in the US — CNBC
In the United States, the number of canceled flights at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and Philadelphia International Airport decreased significantly after an air traffic control system outage. As of 7:10 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, around 60 flights were canceled in Newark — approximately 5% of the daily schedule — while about 30 flights, or 2% of the schedule, were canceled in Philadelphia.
Damage to the backup line
As CNBC Top News reports, more than 600 flights were canceled in Newark the day before. According to officials, a construction crew from transit company NJ Transit in central New Jersey accidentally damaged a Verizon fiber-optic line needed for the backup system of the air traffic control facility.
The US Federal Aviation Administration said the problem was discovered after the primary system failed and was switched to the damaged backup system. Due to the cable break, air traffic controllers lost access to critical backup transmission of radio and radar data.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Flights were diverted to other cities
After the US Federal Aviation Administration stopped accepting aircraft in Newark — a United Airlines hub — more than 100 flights bound for the airport were forced to change their routes. Many of them were international flights, and passengers were sent to other cities, including Detroit, Washington, and Boston.
United Airlines offered flight attendants additional pay for operating flights to Newark in order to reduce delays.
