What's behind flight cancellations and delays at Newark airport

Now we've got the latest on a mess at one of America's busiest airports. More than 320 flights have been canceled since Friday at Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey. Hundreds of others have been delayed by two hours or more. Chris Van Cleve is following all this. Chris, good morning to you. I got caught up in this yesterday. I had a 4 30 flight going into Newark, delayed till seven, then delayed till 9 45, then canceled and then rescheduled again for 6 30. By then, I already jumped on another airline, but it's a mess at Newark these days feel bad for them. Well, good morning, Gail. We're glad you made it back, but you were not alone. Nearly half of all the flights heading for Newark yesterday, including those from here in Seattle, were delayed. What's going on? It's a staffing shortage in a key air traffic control center that has forced the FAA to essentially slow down the nation's 12th busiest airport. The transportation secretary says cracks are starting to show in the nation's air traffic control system. This morning, no sign. The disruptions at Newark Airport have an end in sight. They need to fix it in a picture pretty quick. After an equipment outage last Monday briefly left controllers unable to track planes bound for Newark, several reported being traumatized and were allowed to leave work. About a half dozen controllers are now off the job. They're angry about having to use this old equipment. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy visited the facility Friday. He's promising a plan to upgrade air traffic control this week. What we're seeing right now, uh, at the Philly Trey con and the delays that we're now seeing in Newark is what's going to continue to happen around the country. United Airlines, by far the largest at Newark, is canceling 35 round trip flights a day, hoping to ease the delays, some hitting nearly five hours at times. Chris Jarris made it in from California to attend a funeral, but says her son missed it halfway here. They turned the plane around. He went back to San Francisco and they canceled the flight. And in Washington, D. C. Delta 16 71 maintain 3000 go around 3000 going around 3000 Delta 16 71. The NTSB and FAA are investigating another close call. This one caught on tape between a U. S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and two airliners about to land at Reagan National Airport. The FAA told lawmakers it appears the helicopter took the scenic route to the Pentagon Thursday. I hope the D. O. D. Takes a look at who's actually using that airspace in a way that is creating some some additional hardship that the D. C. Airspace, the D. C. Controllers do not need. Sunday, the FAA says new safeguards around D. C. A. Following January's deadly midair collision worked as a police helicopter responded to a call. Controllers sent three airliners around those three plans. Planes landed safely. The Army says the helicopter on Thursday was following military air traffic control directions. Senator Ted Cruz, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, says he is now working on legislation to quote, keep the flying public safe from Army helicopter flights. Nate. All right, Chris, thank you.