Newark Airport getting new safety technology to prevent runway incidents

A major safety upgrade is coming to Newark Liberty International Airport with technology designed to help prevent dangerous close calls on the runway.

The nation's top transportation officials were at Newark to install a new surface radar system. It's designed to help controllers better track planes and vehicles moving around the airport. Most importantly, it will help prevent runway incidents.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford were at the airport Tuesday morning for the installation of a new surface movement radar (SMR).

The FAA says the technology will improve safety by giving controllers better information about what's happening. 

"On a dark night, or controllers in bad weather, if they can't see out of the tower and see what's happening on the tarmac, they can actually use this radar to actually see on the screens where everything is at," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. 

Duffy said the radar systems are being used across the country as part of a $12.5 billion project. More than 300 analog radios are being converted to digital, air traffic control towers have been updated with digital systems, and thousands of controllers have been hired nationwide, he said. 

The FAA is urging Congress for money to beef up staffing and finish its modernization efforts.   

"Traffic will double to two billion passenger movements in this country over the next 20 years, and we need another $10 billion to get the job done," FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said. 

One major part of the overhaul is an $875 million contract recently awarded to a Boston-based company called ASI to use AI to help manage air traffic. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, or NATCA, released a statement about that. 

"NATCA fully supports the DOT and FAA's modernization efforts, but any development of new technologies or software requires the expertise of the professionals who use these systems every day. Air traffic controllers must have a seat at the table to ensure new technologies enhance safety, and decisions affecting aircraft and the people aboard them must always remain in human hands," NATCA said. 

"AI will not control our airspace. That is left to our air traffic controllers. We're not going to outsource that to a computer system. But can AI assist them? Many of you have heard that their jobs are difficult, they're stressful, they are taxing. If we can alleviate some of that pressure by giving them additional tools, well, we want to do that for them," Duffy said. 

A series of equipment failures at Newark Airport last year prompted a few air traffic controllers to take trauma leave. Duffy said those outages are, in part, what prompted the modernization efforts currently underway. 

Airport safety is on travelers' minds after the deadly runway incident at LaGuardia Airport in March. Two pilots died, and dozens of people were injured after an Air Canada plane and a Port Authority emergency truck collided on a runway. 

The FAA has not said this project is a response to that crash. It's part of a much broader modernization already underway at Newark. 

The project includes replacing older, copper-based telecommunications with fiber and moving more of the system to digital technology. 

For passengers, the FAA says the upgrades could mean fewer delays and departure times could become more predictable. Better aircraft tracking and flow management could also help minimize noise for residents nearby, according to transportation officials. 

Port Authority Executive Director Catherine Garcia said the technology will also be implemented at LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport.

"This technology will help the controllers who operate this airspace manage their work more efficiently. And while Newark Liberty is the first, we expect everyone to be on par as we go forward," she said.

The project will be completed by 2028, according to Duffy.