FAA halts some US east coast flights due to communication issues

The Federal ‌Aviation Administration said ​Monday it is temporarily halting some incoming flights into Philadelphia, Newark Liberty and Teterboro, New Jersey, ‌airports due to air traffic control communications issues. The issue is tied to some frequencies at a Philadelphia air traffic control facility that handles ‌air traffic for the airports.

FlightAware, a flight-tracking site, said more than ‌600 flights at Newark and Philadelphia, or more than 20%, had been delayed at Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control. Newark is a major United Airlines hub, while ⁠Philadelphia ​is an American ⁠Airlines hub. The issue has also forced the diversion of a number of flights to ⁠other airports. Flightradar24, a flight-tracking site, said flights were being delayed by ​an average of 112 minutes at Newark.

In May 2025, the ⁠facility that guides air traffic in and out of Newark airport suffered a ⁠series ​of significant communications outages. The FAA said last year a telecommunications outage impacted communications and radar displays at Philadelphia TRACON.

Last year, Congress ⁠approved $12.5 billion to address the aging air traffic control system, and boost ⁠controller hiring following ⁠decades of complaints over airport congestion and flight delays and a series of technology issues in ‌recent years.