The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an interim order today reducing the flight arrival and departure rate at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). The order comes after weeks of flight delays caused by system outages and a lack of air-traffic controllers which has crippled operations at the New York area airport.
FAA Limits Takeoffs and Landings at Newark to 34 Per Hour
Under the interim order issued today, effective immediately, the maximum hourly rate for arrivals and departures is capped at 28 arrivals and 28 departures. This is due to ongoing construction on Runway 4-Left/22-Right.
Daily construction will end on June 15, 2025, though it will continue on Saturdays through the end of the year, which will allow the airport to increase arrivals and departures to 34 per hour outside of the construction period. This limit will be in place until October 25, 2025.
Acting FAA Administrator, Chris Rocheleau, said this about the changes:
“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.”
The FAA noted that it may change the limits should it determine that capacity exists to accommodate more flights without a “significant increase in delays”. It also leaves the door open to further flight restrictions should that be deemed necessary.
The FAA is also working to increase controller staffing levels and upgrade the existing technology in order to facilitate more flights to and from the airport in the future. According to the press release the FAA is:
- Adding three new, high-bandwidth telecommunications connections between the New York-based STARS and the Philadelphia TRACON. This will provide more speed, reliability and redundancy.
- Replacing copper telecommunications connections with updated fiberoptic technology that also have greater bandwidth and speed.
- Deploying a temporary backup system to the Philadelphia TRACON that will provide redundancy during the switch to a more reliable fiberoptic network.
- Establishing a STARS hub at the Philadelphia TRACON so that the facility does not depend on a telecommunications feed from the New York STARS hub.
- Increasing controller staffing. Philadelphia TRACON Area C, which directs aircraft in and out of Newark, has 22 fully certified controllers, 5 fully certified supervisors, 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 in Area C and three are certified on multiple positions. This means they can work those positions without supervision from an instructor. We have a healthy pipeline of controllers, with training classes filled through July 2026.
These changes come after the FAA met with United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Air between May 14-16 to address issues at the airport.
Flight Limits at Newark are Long Overdue
While I doubt these limits will remain long term, hourly flight limits at the airport are long overdue. The airport is located in some of the busiest airspace in the country and had long been covered by New York TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach Control) along with LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).
In June 2024, Newark moved over to Philadelphia TRACON due to staffing shortages in New York. While Newark had its fair share of issues due to bad weather and congestion, things got much worse with the move to Philadelphia as staffing shortages and equipment malfunctions have plagued the airport leading to massive delays.
United operates a major transatlantic hub at Newark and its CEO, Scott Kirby, called for flight limits in an effort to run a reliable operation. It will be interesting to see how airlines adjust their schedules to accommodate the limits though United proactively cancelled 35 daily flights prior to limits going in place.
Hopefully, this will finally help ease some of the pressure on Newark and the controllers at Philadelphia TRACON as it works to upgrade systems and hire and train more staff.
Summary
The FAA announced arrival and departure limits effective immediately for Newark Liberty International Airport earlier today. Between May 20 and June 15, operations are capped at 28 arrivals and takeoffs per hour. Beginning June 16, when construction is not occurring on one of the airport’s runways, 34 hourly operations will be allowed. Hopefully this relives the congestion at the New York area airport and allows for smoother operations over the summer.