Retired Airline Pilot Voices Safety Concerns About Newark Airport

TMZ

A retired United Airlines pilot has some serious safety concerns regarding a busy airport in New Jersey ... and he's got a message for the federal government.

Transcript

00:00The system is archaic. Newark is a mess. Is it safe to fly in and out of Newark? What do you

00:10think about all of this? At best, I would say it's marginally safe to go in there under the

00:15conditions they're operating on. The weather's been bad on the East Coast, number one. They are

00:21doing construction and during a number of hours during the day or all day, I'm not sure, one of

00:29the runways, one of the primary runways is closed, which adds stress to the overall system.

00:37The air traffic control staffing is people in the tower and approach controls. They are understaffed

00:46there. And they're obviously listening to the news reports. They're overstressed. It is not a good

00:54situation. Sadly, it started a long time ago and nothing has been done about it. And it's

01:05indicative of a lot of other places also, I think, in the system. I think Washington National falls

01:10into that category of being a place I really wouldn't be happy going into. The pilot group

01:16would report incidents of safety problems. I think they can complain about it. But the lack of

01:27air traffic control system and investment in the air traffic control system is long overdue. And it

01:34should have been taken care of years ago. I still have faith in the system. I'm flying on a trip next

01:41month as a passenger. I hope things get better. But I know our government is trying to cut costs. But in

01:49this area of air traffic control and improved technology, they need to spend a little extra

01:55money and get the system back to where it was.

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