During Wednesday’s Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing, Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) questioned Franklin McIntosh, the Deputy Chief Operating Officer of the Air Traffic Organization at the Federal Aviation Administration, about telecommunications issues at the Newark Liberty International Airport.
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00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:01Senator Kim.
00:02Yeah, thank you, Chair.
00:03I'll just pick up where my colleague left off.
00:06I mean, obviously, in my home state of New Jersey, a lot on the minds about safety, about infrastructure.
00:12I was at the Philly, TRACON, and Newark Airport this past weekend, and what I hear from the tech folks on the ground there is they still haven't heard a real diagnosis of specifics of what the telecom problems are.
00:25They haven't heard from FTI in terms of that.
00:27So, you know, Mr. McIntosh, it sounded like you're saying that there has been an investigation.
00:32So do you feel like there is, on the FAA side, a clear understanding of what the problem is?
00:38From this outage, Senator Kim, yes, sir, I do.
00:42And if that was relayed to you, then that's something that I need to address.
00:45And the reason why I'm saying that is I actually, we, the FAA, has sent senior leadership from technical operations who help liaison between our vendor who provides telecommunication.
00:59And who is that vendor again?
01:01We have two vendors that provide telecommunication efforts for Philadelphia Area C.
01:06That would be Verizon and Crown Castle.
01:09Okay.
01:11So, yeah, if you can close that loop with those that are there on the ground.
01:15What is the timeline of the fixes that you were mentioning in terms of both the primary and the secondary and then adding a potential tertiary?
01:22So, right now, in our conversations, the administrator has assembled, the administrator and the secretary have asked us to assemble a task force to work with those vendors to improve those redundancies.
01:35And that task force met, started meeting yesterday, and we're expecting those redundancies to be put in place this summer.
01:43This summer?
01:43Yes, sir.
01:44What I was told when I was there at the TRACON was that the main fix to be able to prevent blackouts, I mean, if our goal is to prevent blackouts from happening, it's going to require a switch and a realignment of the STARS system direct from Newark to Philly TRACON rather than routed through N-90.
02:01Is that correct?
02:02There's going to be different levels that are going to help increase our infrastructure there, and STARS is one of the items that we plan on putting to harden that area.
02:11And I know that Secretary Duffy actually announced that in his press conference as well, and we are, right now, having discussions on putting that in place.
02:20Is there a timeline for that switch to STARS?
02:23I was asked to do it as soon as possible, and we're having that conversation now on how quickly we can get it done.
02:29It is, right now, a piece of adaptation.
02:31What I mean by adaptation is we've got to build the software to make sure that Newark, the Philadelphia RSC TRACON can talk to the N-90 TRACON.
02:41So that adaptation piece and software changes is really what we need to get done.
02:44I wanted to make sure you're tracking it, because I was told that, theoretically, you could do this in six to eight weeks, but without the software enhancements, which is so much needed.
02:53And that could potentially be a six-month to 12-month timeline in terms of the testing as well as the development of the software.
03:00Does that sound roughly right?
03:02I think the 12-month timeline would be, well, is very, very conservative.
03:06When we take a look at adaptations, we already have a team that's going down to the Tech Center to work on the adaptations next week.
03:11So, look, I'd like to stay in touch with you about this, because, you know, I really need to be able, we need to be able to tell the people in New Jersey, frankly, around the country, just, you know, what we can expect when it comes to the goal of zero blackouts, you know, in terms of being able to make sure that they can have assurances there.
03:28Because, you know, I really do feel like this has become, you know, an issue that is undermining confidence, not just in the Newark Airport, but just in our system at large.
03:37One other issue that is continuing to come up is about staffing.
03:41I know we're talking about it nationally, but at least at Philly Trade Con, what I was told is, you know, when it was at N90, roughly 32 CPCs, down to about 22 now, but that the TDY, the temporary duty that they're going to have ends July 28th, 2026, about 15, 16 of them could very well move out at that point.
04:01The pipeline doesn't sound like it's keeping up.
04:04I was told at least it's kind of in the single digits right now.
04:06Do you have, does that track with your understanding?
04:10Like, do you have greater confidence that this isn't going to be some cliff come July 28th, 2026, when it comes to Area C of the Philly Trade Con?
04:19No, Senator, that does not track with my information, actually.
04:22We moved the airspace to improve the pipeline.
04:26I currently have 10 individuals that are in the Trade Con that are actively training.
04:30I've got another six that are in the simulation lab that are going to go to the floor in June of this year, and every training class that I have signed up through the middle of 2026 is filled with CPC ITs.
04:45So my pipeline is actually robust, which is the whole reason why we moved the airspace.
04:50Yeah, look, I mean, that's what we want to make sure we're hearing.
04:52And so if you don't mind, if I can follow up with you, just kind of de-conflict our numbers.
04:57Yes, sir.
04:57Because, again, I just think that that's the kind of information that can hopefully put us at greater ease, that, you know, we're trying to deal with a short-term problem right now, ensure those zero blackouts, but also make sure we're not falling over a cliff.
05:10So is that something you can work with me on?
05:12Absolutely, sir.
05:13Okay, great. Thank you. And with that, I yield back, Mr. Chair.