Newark Liberty Airport is experiencing a major air traffic controller shortage. This lack of accountability creates dangerous safety risks and impacts the ability to safely maintain consistent service. Retired air traffic controller Traian Hernandez, who worked for 25 years at Newark, underscores how critical things are out in the field. Existing controllers are dealing with significantly higher workloads and are going on trauma leave themselves. United Airlines has responded to these recent and continued disruptions by issuing a waiver. This gives travelers the flexibility to adjust their travel itineraries without incurring additional fees.
The staffing shortages at Newark Airport have forced controllers to double up on work, stressing an underfunded, overworked system even further. In a cascading blackout that began last Monday, the airport’s only backup power supply failed too, leading to the cancellation of over 900 flights. Hernandez underscores the risks posed by these conditions, stating, “They had another radar failure and another communications failure last week, for about a minute and a half. … As a controller, that’s an eternity because planes are moving.”
Smart policy or not, United Airlines is jumping ahead on addressing the pain points travelers are experiencing today. They’ve rolled out a “flexibility” waiver for anyone booking travel to or from Newark between May 6 – 17, 2025. Passengers who bought tickets on or before May 4 are eligible to benefit from this waiver. It allows them to rebook their travel plans without incurring any change fees or fare increase penalties. Eligible passengers can rebook on newly scheduled flights in the same cabin class with no change fees.
Hernandez remains concerned about the safety conditions at Newark Airport. He argues that persistent staffing issues have made for “dangerous” environments. He elaborated on the precarious situation within Newark’s airspace: “In 90 seconds, you can go from one end of the airspace to the other and you have airplanes pointed at each other and you can’t do nothing about it. That is extremely stressful, creates anxiety.”
In response to the ensuing travel chaos, Hernandez recommends that travelers look beyond their destination airports to plan smooth travel days. “Reschedule if you can. I will fly out of John F. Kennedy International Airport right now. If I have to fly to New York, that’s where I’m flying — Kennedy, maybe LaGuardia. I’m avoiding Newark right now,” he stated.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has admitted there’s a problem at Newark Airport. Still, they point out that the unique expertise and safety-sensitive nature of air traffic control means it’s difficult to rapidly backfill such staff. They stated, “While we cannot quickly replace them due to this highly specialized profession, we continue to train controllers who will eventually be assigned to this busy airspace.”
Newark Airport is getting around labor shortages in proactive ways. Simultaneously, it is replacing all of its telecommunications infrastructure to increase reliability and operational efficiency. The airport has some big obstacles, too. Because of this, both the flying public and the aviation community alike are beginning to wonder whether air travel in and out of Newark Liberty Airport is safe, or at the very least, reliable.
