Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Demanding A Full Investigation Into Delays And Disruptions At Newark Airport

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor after a recent spate of flight delays and disruptions at Newark Airport, demanding a full investigation by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) so these problems do not get worse or spread to airports around the nation. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

For months – and now especially this week – Americans flying in and out of Newark Airport have experienced increasing delays and disruptions.

Airlines are canceling flights. There’s a shortage of air traffic controllers. They are relying on 1990s technology in 2025.

One Newark air traffic controller even said that flying into Newark is “not safe.”

Keeping the flying public safe and our national airspace efficient is the chief responsibility of Donald Trump’s FAA. They are failing spectacularly.

So, today, I am demanding a full Inspector General Office investigation into what happened at Newark, so these problems do not get worse, or spread to airports around the nation.

I am demanding that the OIG investigation answer these questions:

Why were Potomac TRACON, PHL TRACON, and NY TRACON excluded from the FAA’s list of “hard to staff” facilities, even when there was a clear shortage? They gave 13 other facilities bonus pay so they could attract more people. Why not New York, Washington, and Philadelphia, where it's worse?

What is the plan to replace decades-old technology, equipment, and infrastructure at our airports?

One of the reasons Newark had a problem was a copper wire burned. Did they ever hear of fiber over there at the FAA?

What is the plan to quickly fill critical leadership vacancies?

Members have been fired in the FAA, others have quit out of just disgust. Well, there's a lot of vacancies, especially in the higher positions. We need to fill them. What's the plan?

Other airports across the nation could see similar problems like in Newark if the FAA does not take this investigation seriously.

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