Staff are burnt out — and very concerned about safety and feel very strongly that those moved to Philadelphia should come back to this facility,” Gillen said.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy requested the audit to see if the move had a role in communications and radar outages at the Newark airport this spring.

A U.S. government watchdog said on Monday it will probe the Federal Aviation Administration's 2024 decision to relocate some Newark air traffic controllers to Philadelphia from New York to address staffing shortages and congested New York City-area airspace.