United Airlines will cancel 35 daily round-trip flights at Newark Liberty International Airport starting this weekend, amounting to roughly 10% of its daily operations at the major East Coast hub. The decision follows a week of extensive disruptions triggered by equipment failures and staffing shortages at the Federal Aviation Administration, including a walk-off by more than 20% of FAA air traffic controllers assigned to the airport.
United CEO Scott Kirby said in a message to customers Friday that the move was necessary to protect passengers from further travel chaos. "It's disappointing to make further cuts to an already reduced schedule at Newark, but since there is no way to resolve the near-term structural FAA staffing issues, we feel like there is no other choice," Kirby wrote.
Kirby detailed a series of recent failures within the FAA's infrastructure that brought air traffic operations to a standstill. "On more than one occasion, technology that FAA air traffic controllers rely on to manage the airplanes coming in and out of Newark airport failed - resulting in dozens of diverted flights, hundreds of delayed and canceled flights and worst of all, thousands of customers with disrupted travel plans," he stated.
An anonymous air traffic controller at Newark told NBC News that radar systems failed Monday and radio systems failed Wednesday. "Things need to change. It's not a safe situation for the flying public," the controller said.
According to Flight Stats, United Flight 2016 from Boston to Newark was delayed by five hours and 38 minutes Friday, while El Al's Tel Aviv flight into Newark was nearly 13 hours late. On Friday evening, the FAA implemented a Ground Delay Program at Newark with average delays of over two hours.
The FAA has not publicly detailed the nature of the equipment failures but acknowledged the disruptions originated at the Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), which assumed oversight of Newark airspace in a 2023 realignment. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy visited the TRACON facility Friday and said, "It's unacceptable. We are working to harden the system. But this is why it's critical that we build an all-new air traffic control system."
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees Newark Liberty, expressed growing frustration with the federal agency. "The Port Authority has invested billions to modernize Newark Liberty, but those improvements depend on a fully staffed and modern federal air traffic system," it said in a statement.
Kirby urged the FAA to reclassify Newark as a Level 3 slot-controlled airport, which would officially cap air traffic capacity and impose stricter scheduling controls. He also backed the Trump administration's proposal for broad infrastructure upgrades to the national air traffic system, including increased investment in FAA technology and personnel.
FAA Acting Administrator Chris Rocheleau confirmed Thursday that the agency had dispatched a team to investigate the repeated outages. "We need to make sure the controllers have the proper equipment and that they're obviously appropriately staffed," he said.
