Labor Day travel at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) was disrupted as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reportedly suffered equipment complications. More than 40 inbound flights were diverted to other airports, while nearly 250 outbound flights were delayed.
As some flights were canceled, several passengers expressed their frustrations on social media. EWR has notably been the subject of FAA-related flight complications over the last few months, despite the New York metropolitan area also being served by two other airports.
Originating from “a radar issue”
EWR notified travelers of “flight disruptions” just before 15:00 on Monday.
“FAA equipment outages have caused EWR Airport flight disruptions. Please check with your airline to determine the status of your flight.”
Photo: David Papazian I Shutterstock
According to ABC 7 New York, the airport experienced up to 90-minute flight delays, and the equipment outage was related to radar. The FAA confirmed that a ground stop was never issued and that flights continued to depart and arrive after an earlier notification from the agency indicated that it may have been implemented. Nonetheless, EWR’s operations “slowed” before the equipment complications were subsequently resolved.
“The FAA briefly slowed flights into Newark Liberty International Airport this afternoon due to a radar issue,” the agency explained. “Normal operations have resumed. For updates, please monitor fly.faa.gov.”
Hundreds of delays
As of 22:45 EST on Monday, EWR had recorded a total of 439 delays, according to FlightAware. 248 were outbound departures, while 191 delays were inbound flights.
United Airlines
, which is EWR’s largest carrier, accounted for the bulk of the delays with 240 – about 43% of its operation at the airport. GoJet Airlines, which operates flights under the United Express regional brand, delayed 17 flights. Republic Airlines, which also operates United Express flights and regional flights for American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, had 39 delays. 60 flights were canceled at EWR. Republic had the most with 28, while GoJet followed behind with 14. United only canceled six flights.
Photo: Noah Cooperman | Simple Flying
The delays, however, were understandably enough to disappoint passengers. While outbound flights may have been delayed by about an hour and a half, inbound arrivals had a different story. According to JetTip, a flight alert service, EWR already had more than 40 inbound diversions by 18:00 on Monday.
One flight in particular was significantly delayed. UA1890, which originated at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), diverted to Stewart International Airport (SWF), about 80 miles north of EWR. The flight, which was operated by a Boeing 777-200ER, sat at SWF for just over three hours before it was airborne again.
It landed at EWR at 20:55 – four hours and 20 minutes after its scheduled arrival time of 16:35.
Why only Newark?
One person on X pondered why the flight complications only involved EWR and not at nearby LaGuardia Airport (LGA) or John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).
Although the FAA blamed Monday’s complications on radar issues, air traffic controller (ATC) shortages have plagued all New York airports. However, EWR has been specifically targeted in recent months. A technology outage last week affected controllers’ ability in Philadelphia to oversee Newark’s airspace, causing brief disruptions to departures and arrivals, according to The Wall Street Journal.
In June, the FAA issued “a United-only ground stop” that was blamed on severe weather. The move was to manage aircraft volume and limit congestion, but no other airline was affected.