The Federal Aviation Administration will limit flights at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), as travel woes at the busy New York area hub threaten to spill into the peak summer travel season.
The FAA on Tuesday announced an interim order capping the number of hourly flights at 56 (28 takeoffs and 28 landings) between now and mid-June, in hopes of reducing congestion and stemming a spate of flight delays.
The agency would relax those rules a bit, to 34 hourly departures and arrivals, after construction wraps up on the airport’s busiest runway.
Weeks of frustration
This temporary order by the FAA comes after weeks of travel disruptions caused by that renovation project, combined with the effects of staffing shortages and technical outages to critical air traffic control systems.
In recent weeks, the Philadelphia air traffic control center that governs Newark’s airspace has experienced multiple communications outages that interrupted ATC contact with flying aircraft.
In the wake of one particularly stressful outage last month, a handful of controllers went on federally-authorized leave.
Passengers encountered thousands of flight delays as a result, and a handful of airlines issued waivers to allow passengers to change their itineraries and fly out of other airports in the region.
United Airlines, which operates a major hub at EWR, voluntarily removed 35 daily round trips from its schedule earlier this month — and urged the FAA to require limits from its competitors, too, arguing it had shouldered the burden of reducing flights to make air traffic more manageable.
Last week, the FAA met with seven major airlines that fly out of the New Jersey hub to discuss broader schedule reductions.
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For perspective, Newark can ordinarily accommodate a maximum of 77 combined takeoffs and landings, federal records show.
With airlines now limited to 56 total flights between now and June 15, the FAA-ordered cuts would represent about 27% fewer operations hourly.
Help! Here’s what to do if your flight is canceled or delayed
After daily runway work ends on June 15, those limits would rise to a maximum 68 hourly flights — down about 12% from ordinary travel periods — through October.
Those limits could cause airlines to cancel flights, or shift their timing off of peak hours of the day.
United had praised the proposed limits late last week.
“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,” the Chicago-based carrier said in a statement Friday.
Slow improvements
Operations at Newark have improved a bit in recent days.
As of 6 p.m. EDT Tuesday, just under a fifth of flights headed to EWR were delayed, according to FlightAware. That’s an improvement from the 36% of inbound Newark flights that saw a delay on Sunday, which was one of the busiest travel days so far in 2025.
Around half of flights got to the gate late on a number of days earlier this month.
In addition to the limits on takeoffs and landings, the FAA has deployed technology patches aimed at reducing future outages while the Trump administration seeks funding from Congress on a larger overhaul to the aging air traffic control infrastructure.
What to do if you’re flying out of Newark
In the meantime, with the Memorial Day weekend travel rush just days away, passengers scheduled to fly through Newark have options.
Travel advisories
United has extended its EWR travel advisory through May 23. Passengers who purchased their ticket on or before May 4 can re-schedule with no change fee or fare difference through another connecting airport.
They can also re-book to flights in or out of New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) or Phildelphia International Airport (PHL).
JetBlue passengers can also re-book without change fees or fare differences through May 31, including flying out of New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), where the carrier has its biggest presence in the New York region.
Delta Air Lines also issued its own travel advisory in recent days, which runs through June 15 — though customers have to make changes by May 24.
Passengers rights
Keep in mind, passengers with a canceled, significantly delayed or changed itinerary can claim a full refund if they decide not to travel, and don’t accept rebooking, under U.S. Department of Transportation policy. The refund rules would also apply to passengers who opt to rebook themselves on another airline, take the train or drive to their destination instead of accepting flights from their original airline.
But airlines are less likely to compensate stranded passengers for hotel stays, meals or ground transportation when the problems are deemed outside their control.
That said, travelers who book with a credit card that has travel insurance protections may be able to recoup some of those unexpected expenses.
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