EXPLAINER
The Department of Transportation has asked the airport to reduce operations to 56 departures and arrivals per hour, a change that could significantly affect travellers and airlines using that airport.
To ease a wave of cancellations and delays at Newark Liberty international airport, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has limited the number of hourly arrivals and departures in an effort to reduce congestion for the foreseeable future.
The Department of Transportation has asked the airport – a major hub for United Airlines, which serves New York City – to reduce operations from 77 to 56 departures and arrivals per hour. The change could significantly affect air travellers and carriers that rely on the airport.
Newark has faced numerous challenges that have hindered air traffic and led to this drastic shift. These include a shortage of air traffic controllers, glitches in radio and radar systems, and ongoing runway construction. The FAA says daily construction will end on June 15, after which it will occur only on Saturdays through the end of the year. During non-construction periods, operations will increase to 68 arrivals and departures per hour.
Radar and radio glitches
Newark’s cascade of problems began on April 28, when air traffic controllers at a Philadelphia-based facility, which monitors traffic heading into Newark Liberty, lost both radio and radar contact with planes for 90 seconds. A similar incident occurred at Newark itself – also lasting 90 seconds – during the early morning hours of May 9. Another occurred on May 11, and a brief two-second outage happened the following Monday.
In an op-ed, the sole air traffic controller working on May 9 told the newspaper The Times of London that “it is only a matter of time before a fatal crash”.
NBC News, citing an unnamed source, said similar incidents have occurred at least eight times since August and prior to the April event.
Newark is not the only US airport facing glitches. Last week, air traffic controllers in Denver, Colorado, also lost contact with planes for 90 seconds, impacting 20 different pilots. Denver, like Newark, is a hub for United Airlines.
Last Monday, following the Newark incident, The New York Times reported that only three flights passed through Newark-area airspace during a period when the goal was 14. At times, there were only one or two fully certified controllers on duty.
As a result of the incident, 20 percent of air traffic controllers went on trauma leave, citing the event itself, the use of outdated equipment, and a longstanding staffing shortage. United CEO framed it as air traffic controllers having “walked off the job”. Controllers are entitled to 45 days of paid trauma leave.
Air traffic control in the New York area has been chronically understaffed. A 2023 Department of Transportation report (PDF) found staffing levels to be dangerously low at 20 of the 26 critical air traffic control facilities across the US. The FAA mandates that at least 85 percent of controller positions be filled to maintain safe operations. The New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facility was operating at just 54 percent. In 2024, control of Newark’s approach operations was moved to Philadelphia, a move that exacerbated certified controller shortages, as there were fewer of those personnel in Philadelphia.
The FAA said that it is in the process of ramping up staffing efforts.
“The area in the Philadelphia TRACON that handles Newark traffic has 22 fully certified controllers and 21 controllers and supervisors in training. Ten of those 21 controllers and supervisors are receiving on-the-job training. All 10 are certified on at least one position, and three are certified on multiple positions. We have a healthy pipeline with training classes filled through July 2026,” an FAA spokesperson told Al Jazeera.
“Secretary Duffy has made air traffic controller hiring and building a new state-of-the-art air traffic system top priorities.”
What does this mean for travellers?
The reduced capacity will lead to fewer flights at the major hub. United Airlines, which accounts for 75 percent of Newark’s daily traffic, announced last week that it would cancel 35 roundtrip flights per day.
“Reducing the number of flights scheduled at Newark will help ensure that we can safely and reliably operate the flights that remain on the schedule, which is why we proactively reduced our schedule earlier this month,” a spokesperson for United Airlines told Al Jazeera in an emailed statement.
United serves 76 US destinations and 81 international destinations from Newark. The airline told Al Jazeera that the affected flights are primarily to cities that already have a high frequency of service, such as Orlando and Las Vegas.
United said that customers can be easily re-accommodated on other flights, and that flyers who typically transit through Newark can use alternative hubs like Washington Dulles.
Despite the cutbacks, United is launching new service to 10 destinations this summer, including two flights that have launched in the last week.
For those travelling to, from or through New York, there are alternatives. The city is also served by LaGuardia airport – primarily a domestic hub for American and Delta – and John F Kennedy international airport, a major base for American, Delta and JetBlue airlines.
