Flight Caps at Newark: FAA Limits Movements as Safety and Delay Fears Mount

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has restricted the number of planes able to take off and land at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) after weeks of delays and safety concerns at the hub, which is facing a shortage of air traffic controllers, radio and radar outages, and ongoing runway construction.

Flights to be cut by 25%

The FAA is capping aircraft movements at Newark to 28 departures and 28 arrivals per hour until runway construction is complete. The work on runway 4L/22R will run daily until June 15, 2025, and then continue on Saturdays until the end of the year.

Once construction is finished, the limit will be raised to 34 arrivals and 34 departures per hour until October 25, when the restrictions will be re-evaluated.

At peak times, more than 77 flights arrive or depart Newark per hour, so the curbs represent a 25 percent cut.

The FAA said it had discussed these restrictions in advance with affected airlines, including United, the airport’s largest tenant.

“Our goal is to relieve the substantial inconvenience to the traveling public from excessive flight delays due to construction, staffing challenges, and recent equipment issues, which magnify as they spread through the National Airspace System,” acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau said in a statement.

Photo: Courtesy of Jimmy Woo / Unsplash

Some airlines had already voluntarily reduced their schedules at Newark to limit costly delays and cancellations. United removed around 35 roundtrip flights from its daily schedule at Newark earlier this month.

United said the new caps from the FAA “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.”

“We are confident that the decisive steps taken by [Transportation Secretary Sean] Duffy, including his leadership on matching the airport’s capacity to its operational limitations, will have it back operating reliably for the benefit of our customers,” the airline said.

It pointed out that Newark was the most on-time of any in the New York area in the first quarter of 2025.

Staff shortages and radio blackouts

However, performance at Newark has deteriorated over the last few weeks due to air traffic control staffing shortages, tech failures, and construction work. Hundreds of flights have been canceled or significantly delayed at the airport recently.

While the country is facing a national shortage of air traffic controllers, the situation at Newark is especially dire. At an air traffic control facility in Philadelphia that is partially responsible for managing the airspace above the airport, there are just 22 certified controllers, far short of the FAA’s target of 38.

Photo: United Airlines, Boeing 737-700. Courtesy of Chris Leipelt / Unsplash

Short staffing means air traffic controllers are working substantial amounts of overtime and often filling multiple rolls at once. Some air traffic controllers have warned that fatigue and workplace stress have increased the likelihood of potentially catastrophic mistakes.

Magnifying the problem, Newark has experienced four air traffic communication outages in recent weeks. During blackouts on April 28 and May 9, radar and radio contact between air traffic controllers and planes in the air were down for 90 seconds.

“To be without eyes or ears in air traffic control for a full minute and a half is absolutely terrifying,” an anonymous air traffic controller on duty during the May blackout told the British newspaper The Times. She and five of her fellow air traffic controllers were placed on stress-related leave following the traumatic incidents.

Transportation Secretary Duffy attributed the outages at Newark to outdated technology. The government has unveiled a plan to modernize the country’s air traffic control systems, including upgrading the telecommunications infrastructure that failed in Newark. However, experts fear the budget-conscious government isn’t willing to spend the many billions required for such an overhaul.

Photo: Newark Liberty. Courtesy of PANYNJ

The government also hopes to accelerate the hiring of air traffic controllers, promising to bring on board 2,000 this year.

However, both plans may run into turbulence, as the Trump administration is simultaneously committed to slashing the workforce and budget at the FAA, which manages air traffic control systems and hiring.