FAA Is ‘Slowing Arrivals and Departures’ at Newark Airport Amid Reports of Safety Concerns—What Travelers Should Know

Travelers may want to pack extra patience when flying in or out of Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).

For several days, travelers have experienced hours-long delays and other hardships as FAA staffing levels, runway construction, and technical issues have thrown a serious wrench into operations.

“The FAA has been slowing arrivals and departures at Newark Liberty International Airport due to runway construction at Newark and staffing and technology issues at Philadelphia TRACON, which guides aircraft in and out of the airport,” an FAA spokesperson said in a press release obtained by Travel + Leisure. 

While the slowdown will affect current arrivals and departures, the FAA and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy directed agencies and personnel to deploy backup systems and increase controller staffing (among other steps) to fix the ongoing travel troubles. 

“The FAA is taking immediate steps to improve the reliability of operations at Newark Liberty International Airport,” the FAA said in a news release. “This includes accelerating technological and logistical improvements and increasing air traffic controller staffing.” 

For passengers with upcoming trips, airlines are providing waivers and forgoing change fees. For example, United Airlines is waiving change fees and fare differences for flights out of Newark between May 6 and May 17. Passengers are also advised to subscribe to flight notifications and monitor flight statuses before arriving at the airport. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby recently released a statement about the conditions at Newark. 

“These challenges are not new to Newark. United has been urging the U.S. government for *years* to use its authority to effectively limit the number of flights to what the airport can realistically handle,” Kirby said in a letter posted on May 2. “Past failure to make those changes had led to the circumstances that United and, most importantly, our customers now face.”  

United Airlines’ flight waiver option also allows passengers to book at nearby airports such as LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in New York City and Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)—something you may want to consider doing if you can’t wait around.

Kirby issued a statement on May 7 addressing safety. “First and most importantly, all the flights in and out of EWR are absolutely safe. When there are FAA issues—technology outages, staffing shortages, etc.—the FAA requires all airlines to slow down aircraft and/or cancel flights to maintain the highest levels of safety,” wrote Kirby. “We do our part to maintain safety as well. As you all know, our pilots have thousands of hours of flight experience and supplement that with regular simulator training – we also have procedures that our pilots follow to re-establish communication if controllers lose radio contact to navigate the airplane safely to its destination. In short, neither the FAA nor United pilots will ever compromise on safety.”