Similar to last summer, there is currently a nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers, which will “take time” to replenish, according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

NBC’s Kristen Welker grilled Sean Duffy on the repeated air traffic control outages at Newark Liberty Airport and the transportation secretary didn’t seem convinced that his agency has a handle on the ongoing crisis.

For the third time in two weeks, Newark Liberty International Airport air traffic controllers overseeing the busy New Jersey airport were temporarily unable to contact pilots.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he has a plan to upgrade old air traffic control tech but warned more flight disruptions could come first.

The shortage on Monday forced the F.A.A. to delay flights to the busy airport for up to nearly seven hours, the latest problem to plague the airport.

Staff shortages and equipment failures at Newark Liberty International Airport have raised safety concerns in recent weeks.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says a new software update prevented a third radar outage over the last two weeks at New Jersey's busy Newark airport when a telecommunications line failed again over the weekend.