Newark Delays Persist as Union Official Says Controllers Briefly Lost Contact With Planes

Air traffic controllers briefly lost communication with planes at Newark Liberty International Airport last week, according to the workers’ union, a revelation that came as travel disruptions there extended into a second week.

Galen Munroe, a spokesman for the union, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said that on April 28, controllers in a Philadelphia air traffic control center who are responsible for separating and sequencing aircraft in and out of Newark Airport “temporarily lost radar and communications with the aircraft under their control,” and were “unable to see, hear, or talk to them.”

He did not say how long the disruption lasted, but Bloomberg reported it was 90 seconds.

The communication breakdown led to hundreds of delays and cancellations and three dozen flight diversions that day, according to Aidan O’Donnell, the general manager of New Jersey airports at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He added that for two hours that afternoon, no flights departed from or landed at Newark.

As a result of the loss of communication, Mr. Munroe said, controllers took absences under a law that allows federal workers who are physically injured or experience a traumatic event on the job to leave work. They did not “‘walk off the job’ as it has been reported by the media,” Mr. Munroe said in a statement.

The Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged in a statement on Monday that “our antiquated air traffic control system is affecting our work force.” It said it was working to ensure that telecommunications equipment is more reliable in the New York area.

“Frequent equipment and telecommunications outages can be stressful for controllers,” the F.A.A. said.