Overview

• The Department of Transportation’s inspector general initiated the audit in late July to review the FAA’s July 2024 move of Newark’s TRACON facility from Long Island to Philadelphia.
• Controllers shifted to Philadelphia faced two 90-second radar and communications blackouts this spring at the new facility.
• Newark Liberty International Airport endured sustained delays and cancellations this month as staffing shortages coupled with runway construction compounded the relocated center’s intermittent outages.
• The audit will examine infrastructure resilience by looking at telecom hardening, system redundancy, controller staffing, training and overall operational robustness at the Philadelphia TRACON.
• The FAA has replaced a burnt copper line with fiber-optic connections, established a local STARS hub and proposed a multibillion-dollar ATC modernization plan to strengthen aging systems.