NEWARK, N.J. (WRGB) — Passengers at Newark Liberty International Airport faced another 45-minute ground stop Sunday morning due to a telecommunications issue with a tower in Philadelphia. The incident has added to the frustration of travelers already dealing with ongoing construction, staff shortages, and equipment outages at the airport.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced plans to reduce the number of flights over the next several weeks in response to the persistent issues.

Meanwhile, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby sought to reassure customers after the airline canceled 35 daily round-trip flights.

It absolutely is safe at Newark and in the entire country, and the reason is when these kind of outages happen, we train for them. We have backs to backups to backups to keep the sky safe," Kirby said.

Further delays are possible as the Federal Aviation Administration still needs to fill approximately 3,000 jobs. Additionally, runway construction at Newark is expected to continue until mid-June.

Senator Chuck Schumer took to social media to demand immediate action.

Secretary Duffy needs to put Newark first in line to receive critically-needed fixes and tech — so air traffic control can function safely like it should," he said. Newark cannot wait.

Last week, the Trump administration unveiled an ambitious plan to overhaul the country’s outdated air traffic control system through huge investments in technology upgrades and technology.

An eight-page framework released by the Transportation Department seeks to improve radio systems controllers use to talk with pilots, upgrade copper wiring with fiber optics and update degrading air-traffic control facilities at airports across the U.S. But it is still missing some key details to make the plan a reality and comes with the challenge of being unable to shut existing systems down to implement a new one.

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Editor's note: The National News Desk's Austin Denean contributed to this article.