NEWARK, New Jersey (WABC) — A ground stop on Thursday morning at Newark Liberty International Airport had a ripple effect throughout the day just as the Labor Day weekend travel rush kicked into full gear.
The problems started when the FAA issued a temporary ground stop for arriving flights because of Air Traffic Control communication issues.
Air Traffic Controllers in the center told ABC News they lost their radio frequencies.
As a result, incoming flights to Newark and Teterboro airports were ground-stopped due to equipment issues until 12:30 p.m.
However, by 4 p.m. there were still 2.5 hour delays and the FAA had reduced the number of flights coming into the airport.
Departing flights did not appear to be impacted.
A spokesperson with United Airlines described the ground stop as a “glitch.”
This is the second outage for controllers at the Philadelphia ATC center that handles air traffic control for Newark airspace in the last 24 hours.
There was another outage between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday where audio wasn’t coming in clear between planes and controllers for a brief time.
Controllers at Newark were warned that frequency issues could happen any time over the next 24 hours, an on-duty controller told ABC News.
The FAA is reducing flights into Newark to 28 per hour until at least Friday compared to the previous 34 an hour. Arrivals are also being spaced out about to 20 miles apart as they approach the airport.
After similar Air Traffic Control issues earlier this spring, the FAA reduced the number of flights going in and out of the airport through the summer.
This all comes as the FAA expects this to be the busiest Labor Day Weekend for air travel in 15 years.
United Airlines says they will carry half a million more passengers than they did last year for the holiday. They say they are fully aware of any issues and they are ready to help passengers make it to their destinations.
ALSO READ | Travel with ease this Labor Day: Best times to hit the road, new TSA family lanes
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