Flight cancellations drop sharply in Newark and Philadelphia after fiber-optic outage
Air travel disruptions in the New York-Philadelphia corridor eased on Tuesday, with cancellations falling to about 5% at Newark and 2% at Philadelphia following a fiber-optic cable break that affected air-traffic control systems.
Flight cancellations in the New York-Philadelphia region fell dramatically on Tuesday after a fiber-optic cable break disrupted air-traffic control communications on Monday. By 7:10 a.m. Eastern Time, Newark Liberty International Airport reported roughly 60 canceled flights, about 5% of its schedule, compared with more than 600 cancellations the previous day, according to FlightAware. Philadelphia International Airport saw about 30 cancellations, representing roughly 2% of its flights.
The outage was traced to a Verizon fiber-optic line that a New Jersey Transit construction crew accidentally severed while working in central New Jersey. The damaged cable was part of a backup system for the Federal Aviation Administration’s radar and radio feeds. The FAA said the main system had already failed, prompting a switch to the compromised backup, which led to the widespread disruptions.
During the Monday outage, over 100 inbound flights to Newark were diverted after the FAA halted traffic into the United Airlines hub, sending many international passengers to alternate airports such as Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Boston. United Airlines responded by offering flight attendants additional compensation to assist with Newark departures and help reduce delays.
"United offered flight attendants extra pay to pick up Newark trips and ease delays," a United spokesperson said.