Should Newark Airport close until air traffic control upgrades are made? Experts and officials debate safety and the economic impact.

Several equipment outages over the past two weeks at the Philadelphia-based air traffic control center that guides planes to and from Newark Liberty International Airport have raised concerns about how safe it is to fly at one of the nation’s busiest airports.

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.