Will the Newark Airport Chaos Repeat Itself at Other US Airports This Summer?
The situation at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport has since improved slightly: On May 9, there were 141 delays and 66 cancellations at the air travel hub by 9:30 a.m., according to FlightAware. Meanwhile, inbound flights faced delays of about two hours at their airports of origin.
One of the driving factors behind the havoc at Newark is a shortage of air traffic controllers. The US air travel system currently needs to hire about 3,000 air traffic controllers to reach full staffing levels, according to Airlines for America, an industry lobby group.
As the peak summer travel season approaches, one question on the minds of many travelers right now is if the situation at Newark could repeat itself at other airports around the country. Fortunately, one expert says that's 'absolutely not' likely to happen.
Although the air traffic controller shortage is ongoing nationwide, the issues facing Newark are locally unique, according to Michael McCormick, professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a former air traffic controller. 'What happened at Newark was specific to Newark because it involves the move of the approach control from Long Island to Philadelphia,' he tells Condé Nast Traveler.
'What happened at Newark was specific to Newark"
Michael McCormick, professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a former air traffic controller
In July 2024, Newark's air traffic operations, called 'approach control' in industry parlance, were moved to Philadelphia International Airport in an attempt to shore up staffing levels. 'The New York approach control has been chronically understaffed, and it's been that way since the controller strike in 1981,' McCormick says. 'So to mitigate that, they decided to move the approach control from Westbury, Long Island, down to Philadelphia because Philadelphia has not had a problem either attracting, training, or retaining air traffic controllers.'
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