ICYMI: Rep. Gillen Visits TRACON N90 in Westbury; Applauds USDOT Decision to Open Audit into Relocation
WESTBURY, NY – In case you missed it, Newsday, The New York Post, CBS New York and more reported on Congresswoman Laura Gillen’s visit to TRACON N90 in Westbury, where she applauded the decision to investigate the FAA’s relocation of N90 air traffic controllers from Long Island to Philadelphia.
Rep. Gillen has been vocal in calling for an investigation into the FAA’s misguided relocation decision. As a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, she raised early concerns about the risks of uprooting skilled controllers from a high-performing facility and separating Newark controllers from their counterparts at JFK and LaGuardia.
News 12 Long Island: Rep. Laura Gillen Discusses Her Visit to TRACON N90
Watch the full clip here.
Newsday: FAA watchdog opens audit on Westbury air traffic controller transfers
“Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre), who sits on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, toured the Terminal Radar Approach Control facility in Westbury — a cavernous building, set back behind high barbed-wire fencing, where the controllers were relocated from — on Tuesday."
"The decision ‘not only uprooted civil servants and their families, taking them from their friends and their lives and their neighborhoods, but it also put the safety of our airspace at risk,’ she said at a news conference afterward.”
New York Post: Feds launch audit into FAA over gutted Long Island air traffic control facility as safety concerns rise over Newark airspace
“The Department of Transportation’s Inspector General confirmed this week that it’s auditing the FAA’s 2024 decision to shift control of Newark Liberty Airport’s airspace from New York TRACON, the radar hub in Westbury, to Philadelphia’s air traffic tower after they experienced a series of radar blackouts in New Jersey.
‘The FAA downplayed the safety risks,’ Rep. Laura Gillen said of the relocation.
‘They reported the risk of an outage is one in 11 million — and it happened twice in the year since they moved,’ Gillen said — referencing two 90-second radar blackouts at Newark airport in April and May of this year.”
CBS New York: Federal watchdog launching audit into air traffic controller move from New York to Philadelphia
“Controllers say safety is stronger when teams are under one roof. ‘If they have to pick up a phone, that is precious seconds that could cost lives. It doesn't make any sense,’ Gillen said.
In April and again in May, air traffic controllers overseeing Newark's airspace dealt with 90-second blackouts of radar and communications with planes.
Gillen says the Federal Aviation Administration vastly underestimated the risks of moving the air traffic controllers.”