United Airlines cutting 35 flights per day from Newark Airport as problems persist

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CBS News

Updated on: May 3, 2025 / 11:27 PM EDT


Delays persisted Saturday at Newark Liberty International Airport. There were at least 377 delays and 82 cancellations throughout the day, according to FlightAware. This comes a day after United Airlines announced it'd be cutting 35 flights per day from Newark due to persistent equipment and staffing issues.

"It's now clear – and the FAA tells us – that Newark airport cannot handle the number of planes that are scheduled to operate there in the weeks and months ahead," United CEO Scott Kirby said. "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 in order to protect our customers." "That's a short term fix," former NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt said. "You can't get controllers into the pipeline quick enough."

Some arriving flights were delayed Saturday afternoon by more than three hours, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Departures were delayed up to 45 minutes. An FAA spokesperson blamed the problems on equipment issues, runway construction and staffing shortages in Philadelphia, where the traffic control center overseeing Newark's airspace is located. Airlines have been working with passengers to reschedule or refund tickets, but questions are starting to emerge about whether Newark will be able to handle the high volume of flights this summer.

"As a passenger it is frustrating"

There have been over 800 delays and 150 cancellations at Newark since Tuesday, authorities said. Late this week, 20% of air traffic controllers in Philadelphia walked off the job, frustrated with equipment outages and staffing shortages, a source familiar with the situation told CBS News. The Philly air traffic control center oversees the airspace in Newark.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/problems-at-newark-airport-persist-saturday/

[Lonestarblue]

1. I haven't flown through Newark in years because of frequent delays.

It seems things have only gotten worse. We need a massive influx of controller training, but we could always consider investing in high speed trains/tracks to alleviate air congestion as some countries in Europe have done to get rid of short-haul flights like many of those in the Northeast. Italy invested in high-speed rail to Milan with great success. And, of course, Germany and France have many high-speed rail services. The great advantage is time, less pollution, and train stations right in cities so long, expensive taxi rides from airports miles from the city are not needed. We are so short-sighted in this country because big business pays the government to be shirt-sighted in their favor.

[mnhtnbb]

5. There are at least 3 family stories

of being stuck at an airport, unable to get home (Philly, St Louis, and Charlotte) where the only realistic option was to rent a car and drive. Trains were either booked or so slow, driving made more sense. Last time, in 2016, I think, American couldn't get us home to Raleigh from Miami. So we agreed to go to Charlotte. No connecting flights. Amtrak sold out. Rental car? Cheapest was $375. for one day to drive 2 1/2 hours home. Total price gouging/ rip off.
I have a friend in Paris for a month. I told her she could do a day trip to Lyon. Thirty trains per day from Paris to Lyon, and the fast train does it in less than 2 hours. It's about the same distance as between NYC and DC. Our fastest train takes another hour to cover the equivalent distance.

[iluvtennis]

8. Just wanted to say the trains in Italy are awesome - you can get anywhere in the country via the trains. As I

visit my daughter yearly (she is attending a music conservatory there), I even have the apps for Treni Italia on my phone and the connecting bus schedules - I love it.

[groundloop]

10. As are the trains in France

We visited France last summer and traveled between Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, and Strasbourg on high speed rail. It was great, as was each city's local rail/tram system.

It's a shame the US has been so shortsighted in not developing better public transportation.

[iluvtennis]

13. If these European countries with smaller gov't/funding can do it, so can the US. They just don't want to. n/t

[debsy]

2. The dumpster admin said they didn't cut any FAA jobs critical to safety. However....

https://apnews.com/article/faa-firings-trump-doge-safety-airlines-27390c6a7aac58063652302df5a243d3]

We are seeing the effects in real time.

[Wonder Why]

3. I wonder how many of those are short distance trip that could best be served by a subsidized train system instead

of a subsidized air system.

[Tansy_Gold]

4. I wish I could

REC your reply a thousand times.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. Newark Liberty had picked up much of the overflow originally going to/from JFK and LaGuardia in NY

and they expanded, becoming a United hub, and did a big P.R. campaign promoting the airport as an "alternative" for both domestic and international travel, to/from/through the NYC metro area. Now they are stuck.

[wolfie001]

7. tRUMP clusterfuck

Any problems at that airport before the Fat Felonious Fraud was elected will surely be MAGAt worse now.

[3Hotdogs]

9. As someone who lives in the flightpath of EWR, I wish they would eliminate all flights.

After 9-11, there were three days of quiet in our neighborhood.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. That almost 4-day ground stop after 9/11

was the eeriest thing that I had ever experienced. I'm not far from 2 airports (one west of me and the other northeast of me - KLOM & KPNE) that handle the smaller private and commuter planes and I am under the flight path for both (plus planes circling KPHL come up this way, which is about 20 miles north of that airport). Had been so used to seeing "a string of glowing jewels" at night as the little planes were evenly spaced apart after takeoff. But that week, nada. No planes or helicopters for those days was wild!

[angryxyouth]

11. Corporate News sucks

Didn’t even mention the possibility of DOGE cuts being responsible. Or that Trump has put the brakes on Biden’s infrastructure package either directly or because of material shortages and layoffs of the competent public servants who would oversee the projects.